In His Image: Creative

I often hear people say, "Oh, I'm not creative," to which I ask, "Do you believe you were made in God's image?....Do you believe HE is creative?... Doesn't that mean that you must be creative?"....*
Trees, leaves, plants, flowers, and even people remind me of God's playful sense of creativity. We often see His sense of humor in his creations, too. Take seashells for example. Something hard was needed to protect the soft animal creatures, called mollusks. He could have made a generic shape, color and texture. Instead He playfully had fun with it, changing color, texture, pattern...Take a look at the variety our Creator used in the cockle shell alone !!!!! Creator-God: Master Artist and role model.

















* If this resonates with you, I suggest you get Julia Cameron's book, "The Artist's Way" and work the process to rediscover your own creativity.

Early Impressions

Prior to the last photo class I took, I was to shoot 100+ images without regard to light, composition, balance, etc. This was very difficult for me...to shoot without thinking artistically. The goal was to identify what things attract my eye. What I realized most is that I am attracted to texture...particularly mixed textures. It made sense and yet, felt odd. As a visual artist, I render smooth, gradual shading in pencil, paint and pen.
My brother, Wesley, and I periodically go "grazing" at the store. This is something we don't do often, but LOVE ! We will be gone for hours. We always find ourselves in weird, off-beat sections of the store...I noticed that we will point and look and, "wow" at the same thing at the same time...and it is usually texture-based! I commented on this and he said, "It makes sense. We both grew up in the same house." We are also drawn to the same shells when we beach comb together.

The home my parents chose to raise their kids in was built by a contractor for his daughter, who only lived there a short time. He had outfitted the place with all kinds of cool and varied textures...white gravel, framed in wrought iron in front of the fireplace which was double-sided in a rose, stone wall. there were copper tiles in the kitchen, more gravel in the bay window. Several of the plaster-walled rooms had one wall of a different kid of panelling.Outside there was brick, gray stone and wood. There were fields arund and forests nearby.
It is amazing to me how our surroundings, subconsciously affect our preferences. The youngest of 8 grand kids, I was the only girl. I was a tomboy and was always trying to keep up with my brothers and boy cousins. All the adults wanted to keep me in pink and ribbons and lace... As an adult, this has become my "comfort color"...the color that makes me happy...the color I wear when I want to feel loved or just plain comfortable. Early impressions may be more lasting than we think.
Next time....an array of different shell textures...