me? creative? I think so....

I really want to know more about the whole "right brain" thing. I always thought of myself as being a right brain person. This class has made me question my creativity. However, I still feel I am a pretty creative and unique person... in my own way that is. Thinking back on a time when I feel I was having a creativity peak was last year, my senior year of high school. We were working on monologues and were to choose one that was completely different from ourselves in order for it to be challenging. It was also new because usually we were assigned a part of piece to perform but this time we got to choose. After digging through what felt like an abyss of monologues, I found one. It was a creeper of a monologue and it called for me to be a serial killer. The character was always second best and kills six of her female classmates to become "(in)famous". Depending on how well you know me.... I hate violence and hate even killing bugs even if it is a cockroach. My favorite part of this theatrical experience was the character development. I did many "sunday morning" and object exercises. I mapped out every aspect of the character's life according to some hints given by the playwright but basically whatever I thought up and created from scratch. When it was time to perform, after months and months of prep., I had a really strange moment on stage where I could feel I wasn't "me". I was thinking like the character. It was very "in the moment". I feel the only reason I felt this while performing was because of all of the preparation I had done.... it was the creative process that let me create that moment on stage for me and the audience to experience.

Now this was not a hge theatrical break through. But in my eyes it was creative. The path I took to get me there was teh creative part. I think this is just an example of how creativity does not neeccesarily have to be a world wide thing. It can be something small and personal. Just like the art by Stern I mentioned in my last post. Her art I consider to be creative, but it wasn't like she made a historical break through. I feel the tiniest things can be creative.

Art Forum

I attended the Friday Forum yesterday for Melissa Stern's art work. Her art was most certainly interesting and what her explanations of the art were creative and insightful but the art itself struck me in a weird way. One of the pictures she showed (on a powerpoint presentation) just seemed to be weird shaped faces and large "x's" over three faces. It was from a collection of drawings from her "back to school collection". But to me it strangely seemed creative. When I went and looked at more of her works, I noticed the layers and layers and the variations in the materials she used. Many of her drawings had hidden messages and all told a story. However, she was more interested in hearing other peoples’ stories and hoped to inspire and ignite their creative juices. I feel her artwork shows the different stages of creativity. She starts off with a blank surface and then adds to it and layer by layer it is built up into this really thick and thought out piece of art. The different materials she uses whether it be fabric, newspaper, random trash, plastic, etc. is what makes her art unique. She is creative for using something in a different way then what it was intended to be used for. She thinks outside of the box.

I do a little bit of art every now and then. I tend to only draw my “feelings”. What I mean by that is that I will take a blank surface, and mix different colors to match what I am thinking or what I want to express and then begin to paint. I usually just paint strokes and let the thickness or variety of colors tell the story. I seem to use a lot of blues and greens and then accent them with yellows and more of golden tones. When I paint, I do not think. I turn up my music and just do as I feel. I am sure there is some unconscious planning and when I am done, I’m done.