Where Do Your Creative Ideas Come From?

Yesterday I was reading a blog post from Jason Horejs' Red Dot Blog about  'productivity' being the best thing you can do for your 'creativity'.  It's absolutely true, if you are in any sort of creative career, you must simply 'do the work' and  show up at the canvas, paper, laptop...or what ever medium you work in. It is indeed when the work begins that the ideas begin to sprout and grow. 

 

That being said, live every day with a fun sense of curiosity.  Consider the "what ifs" in your approach to problem solving or just daily life.  The large painting above has stemmed from a 'what if'....I take some of the small plein air scenes I've painted from Barn Island and create much larger paintings based on them?  "Spring Skies" is an example of that, the small plein air is only 8"x6" but was such a beautiful day in April last year:

This past Monday morning at 8:00am, I was out at this same location for a bit of morning exercise in the frigid air.  It's too cold for me to paint at 11 degrees F., in fact I can hardly take my gloves off long enough to take a photo;  but if I keep moving I can at least go for a bit of cross country skiing.  We have had plenty of snow this year to make the going quite nice! But it looks completely different out here at Barn Island when it's covered in snow! 

So what does this have to do with creating? It's living your every day life. Getting your exercise, trading stories with your friends, getting outside for a bit of fresh air, running errands, and yeah, even shoveling snow!  So the same morning I was chatting with my friend about how my hubby had made 'snow ice cream' for me Sunday night, to coax me out of the studio! 

 Even though she had grown up here in CT and my hubby in Atlanta (where snow is rare but can be disastrous or delightful).....she had not ever tasted this treat...so of course- she went right home to give it a try! Several different flavors later (including maple and chocolate among others), she was sharing the bounty with co-workers; leading to even greater creativity....as she is an excellent writer! And here is the story in our local paper today: (click here for link and for recipes!).  

 

So there you have it! Tuesday, when the next storm howled through, I was in my studio (pictured above) trying to warm things up with a large version of "Spring Skies"!  There are some parts of winter that I really do enjoy, like cross-country skiing in the sunshine, and eating snow ice cream, but I will truly welcome Spring and all its warmth....after all, I think I'm starting to grow antlers!