The Path To Creativity

As much as I wish it was different, the path ahead to creativity is never completely known. 

I have a tendency to want to know what is ahead of me in life. If I make this choice or that choice, what will the results be? I want to know what is ahead on my path so I can make good decisions today. That is my ego trying to control my destiny and forgetting there is something bigger at work in my life.

Those same thoughts are often in my head when I want to begin creating something.  It is there that I get stuck. It is at that moment when those thoughts surface that I lose my creative side and I stagnate. Where I am at today on my path is where my choices lie, not ahead of me. Ahead of me is not known because what is ahead of me is based on the choices I make today in this moment. If I try to step ahead and look for where they will take me I get lost and have no results or very limited results.

If I trust each day in the path that is in front of me and begin to look at what I find along the way in each moment, new ideas emerge that I never thought were possible. As I add the new that is discovered each moment along my path, ideas take on new magic and reflect more of what is possible.

The moment of now along our path is were our creativity lies. Each moment creates the path ahead. It is up to us to see what is in that moment and use it as inspiration. It is all around us and within us if we take the time to remember the moment of  "now".

So start today where you are and create something. Forget what you did yesterday and forget what it might look like when you finish. Begin now with what you have. Begin at the beginning of the path and start creating something, anything. You don't have to know where it will take you. You don't have to know if you will finish it. You don't have to know if you will like it when you finish. Just create something, "now".  It is the only place that your creativity is and it is never wrong. You never know when what you create today will lead you to something bigger and better tomorrow. 

Letting our creativity in is a practice as artists we have to learn to do. It is a practice of the mind to let our creativity in. We have to learn to be in the moment to do it. If we are always looking into the future to get our next idea or to create our ideas, we never get to practice how to let our creativity in today. This practice is an art in itself and art is created from this practice. So take the first step on your path and practice creating something, anything today.  Then and only then will you see where the path to creativity leads you.

 

Perfection.....

As an artist I often try to create from the end result to the beginning, often thinking backwards. Then having to make it work from the end to the beginning. The process becomes a task in having to get the end result to match this image I have at the final stage of perfection. When I do this I lose spontaneity. The unknown becomes known as I strive for something perfect. In the striving for something perfect I can get lost and frustrated and never complete or even begin the idea that I see as the end result.

So for today I give myself permission


To eliminate the need for perfection.


For it causes procrastination.




I allow myself the space to forget about the end result and begin at the beginning.  I let the creative process take me where it will take me. Sometimes it is a far greater result then I can begin to imagine....in the beginning. I trust in the process and let it lead me instead of me leading it. 

Black Daisy Earrings

Directions for Black Darling Daisy Earrings as shown below:

For each ear wire:
Stack the following on an 1.5mm Antique Brass Head Pin w/ball

     Round Firepolish Bead, 4mm, Opaque Black 

     Tiny Six Tip Bead Cap, Antique Brass

     12mm Opaque Black Glass Bead

      Darling Daisy Bead CapDaisy Spacer, Antique Brass

      Solid Rope Bead, Antique Brass

25% off Nov. 29th-Dec. 5th

artfulmarket.com

Round Open Work Necklace and Earrings

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Round Open Work Earrings

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Parts List:

1. 5 Decorative Open Work Rounds, Antique Brass
2. Small Textured Link Chain, Antique Brass
3. Medium Textured Link Chain, Antique Brass
4. Textured Rose Cabochons
5. Antique Brass Lever Ear Wires
6. Antique Brass Jump Rings, 6mm and 4mm

Directions for Round Open Work Earrings:

1. Glue a Textured Rose Cabochon to the center of two and Antique Brass Open Work Round with a glue such as E-6000.
2. Attach two pieces of Antique Brass Small Textured Link Chain, 9 links each to two sides of the Antique Brass Open Work Round with a 4mm jump ring as shown. Attach both ends to an Antique Brass Ear Wires.

Directions for Round Open Work Necklace:
1.Glue a Textured Rose Cabochon to the center of two and Antique Brass Open Work Round with a glue such as E-6000.

1. Attach them in the center with three links Antique Brass Medium Textured Chain as shown.
2. Attach a 7"-8" length of Medium Textured Link Chain to both sides of Decorative Open Work Rounds with 6mm Antique Brass Jump Rings. Attach a 6mm jump ring to one end of the chain and an Antique Brass Filigree Clasp the the other end

30% off June 6th-13th....coupon code: sun555

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Artful Market at the Intergalactic Bead Show in Charlotte, NC, March 2011

I did the show with Leslie Patterson from Smiling Soul. We had so much fun!  This month I will be at the Down The South Bead Show in Atlanta at the Cobb Galleria on April 9th and 10th.

March Newsletter! New Cabochons!

http://mim.io/53b5f