For one whole year I did not eat anything I did not cook or prepare myself, or that someone else did not cook at home for me.  For another whole year I did not buy any new clothes (except shoes and undies). Instead, I used what I already had, or made all my wearables myself, or bought secondhand and adjusted these items to suit me.  And for yet another whole year, I made my own soap and body care products.  I mixed my own cosmetics, and produced my own household cleaners and bought not one of these ready made items from the store.

I have heard many visual artists like myself say that in order to make good work, you must really see what’s around you.  Notice the small things, like how shadows from leaves on a tree dance on the ground, or how light ripples on ocean waves.  That you must learn to find the subtleties of colour and the lines and shapes buildings make in a landscape.  Or notice how people sit, stand, walk, and gesture so that you can make better art.  But for me, I need more.  My creative juices aren’t only brought about by observing.  For me, in order to continue to be in flow and make good art, I must move, take action and do.  I must live a creative life in order to be creative in my work.

The last post I wrote was about asking the question, “What if”?  It was essentially a post that talked about my belief that curiosity is essential to being creative and being an artist.  And in my very first post, I talked about my road back to creativity and how it was a long journey with starts, stops and more than a few wrong turns.  Well, that path, though meandering, was a very interesting one indeed.  One that prompted me to be curious, to question and explore.  It made me think of what I truly believed in and wanted.  It made me aware of my values which made me take action, even if the actions were often considered odd.  The above are just 3 examples of small experiments I decided to undertake because I was looking for what and who I wanted to be in the world. (And yes, if you want to know, I am concerned about the impact the fashion industry has on our landfills.  I believe the best food is slow, homemade food.  And because of harmful chemicals in many of our cleaners and cosmetics, I decided to do something to stay away from them as much as I could.)  My “What Ifs” caused me to continue and to keep searching for answers, and trying new things to find solutions in my own style

I am not a science fiction or fantasy writer.  My art form does not require beautiful narrative nor elegant writing.  I don’t deal with words but instead imagery.  However, my work and art practice do involve the question, “What if?” a lot:  What if I mix this paint with this colour?  What if I layer this material over the other?  What if I choose to illustrate this subject matter?  What if I create a pattern out of this shape?  What if from now on all my work will involve images of cephalopods?  You know, silly art things like that…

There’s no no doubt in my mind that our greatest artists have asked this question of themselves, and thus have created great painted works that leave us tongue-tied and awed to silence.  That our musical heroes have strung together notes and chords that were never tried before because they pondered similarly. That inventors, scientists, adventurers and engineers have made the same inquiry while they stayed up all night looking for a new energy solution, scanned the night sky with their telescopes, traversed deserts and sailed over oceans, and drew up new plans for their next great machine.  Many solutions to problems have been solved because of a simple “What if?”

I don’t think I could consider myself an artist if I did not ask “What if?” constantly.  For I believe that creativity cannot flourish without curiosity.  Because if I was not curious, I would not experiment, I would not try nor discover new techniques.  A lack of curiosity would stunt my imagination, and stop me from being playful with my work, which would stop my growth as both an artist and as a person.  And for me, if I am not growing, I am not moving forward.  If I am not moving forward then I am regressing.  And if I regress enough my friend creativity may fall back into hibernation like it has before.  A slumber so deep that only a kiss from a force that is strong enough to slay a dragon disguised as an evil stepmother queen can awaken (Blech, you see now why I am not a fiction writer!).

Anyhoo, I consider myself a pretty creative person and this question has helped to keep me going, doing and making.  Give the question a try  regardless of how you choose to manifest your talents.