The creative mind plays with the objects it loves

The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.
Carl Jung

I have been struggling with the creative everyday theme of body so far this month.  I was searching for quotes as an inspiration to a new series when I came across the above quote.  The first part really defines a lot of how I approach a new creation. I like to play to experiment and it all comes together into something that is more than play, more than intellect, that speaks to me on some level and I hope that it speaks to others as well.

The second line hit me this time. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves. Hmm, I do not hate my body, but nor do I love it.  I think I will have to think of this some more.

I have been exploring other types of bodies, Mermaids and Fairies rather than focusing on mine. When looking at fantasy, many times what is explored is the things we can not do. Fly, Breathe under water, do magic, technology that is beyond what we have right now.

Another thing that fantasy lets us explore is the what if. What if we never progressed beyond steam technology, or the Victorian ideals of culture.  This is one of my current favorites, “Steampunk” It can mean so much to so many different people.

Well, I need to get back to revising web sites and reworking my artist statement, but first I want to thank those who read an comment. You really make this a fun process for me. If you have any suggestions or comments that you would like to make, please let me know.  Thanks! Rennata

The importance of play and accident.

Yesterday we had one of  those days at work.  I have always enjoyed the water, where it meets the endless sky, sunrises and flowers.  One of my favorite things about the 3D environment of Second Life is that you can always take a quick visit to the water’s edge,  make it be sunrise, sunset or what ever time of day you prefer.  When I am trying to relax from a busy day, yet at the same time get some writing done,  talk to kids, answer phones, and otherwise live my life, I find that just leaving my laptop open with one of these ideal scenes sets the stage for a positive attitude.   I am still on the search for images for the covers of my hand tied journals and I need to  get going on my word count, so naturally I set up the laptop, popped over to one of my favorite sunrise settings and started to write.   I am just getting going when I something jerks my attention away and the thought crosses my mind, “These interruptions are going to be the death of me.” I  take a deep breath and look at my beautiful setting just in time to see someone else popping into the world above my head. This means that they were  seated on the couch I was on when they logged off.  The polite thing to do in this situation is to say, I am sorry or some such, and then move off the person’s head. Then it is polite for me to say something like, No problem, or some such. It is all very much like accidentally bumping into someone while at the store.  So I watched while they came into focus. When you first come into the world, you appear as a grey mist while the graphics card catches up and renders your appearance.

Yes, in fact the grim reaper had shown up over my head.  I just had to take a screen capture, and no, he did not apologize, he just moved off.  My daughter then rounded the corner with a “That is beautiful” I pointed out the dark figure and she loved it even more, it became “Epic.”  I stopped, took some time to look at her drawings, talk about art and just enjoy the accident of this creation.  The rest of the evening was wonderful. Taking the time to relax, to play and be open to what ever might chance to come about  can lead to some “epic” art, and more importantly, an epic time.

Something Simple.

The Bridge

Sunday was a day I had set aside for writing. I made a big jump on my word count, but am still behind the “goal.” I have gotten out of the habit of writing daily, so  I found that all the little distractions caught my attention. I can report a very clean and neat coat closet.  By the evening I was looking back and thinking,  am I setting myself up? What I mean by that is by letting all the distractions disrupt me, am I telling myself it is okay that I did not achieve my goal because I was distracted?   I could have taken my laptop to the studio, closed the door and pounded out the words.  My husband and kids could have cleaned the closet without my help, it was their idea in the first place.   I sat there debating as to if the words I wrote counted as creating or not.  I came to the conclusion that while yes they were, I wanted to do a visual art creation also, but rather than set my self up by jumping into a new project fairly late at night, I simply started looking around the 3D area I created for an image to put on the front of some hand bound in an Oriental style journals I am making for the Gallery.  I found one I liked, called it good,  reminding my self that only by sitting down and doing can I get anything done.  It was something simple, but it was done and I feel good about that.