A Spike in Creativity

The last week or so I have experienced a huge surge in creativity, especially a desire to delve into the visual arts.  In the past my outlets have mostly included writing and music, with a recent interest in photography.  Perhaps it is the uptick in the success of my photographs that I am wanting to branch out.  Perhaps it is because I am in the process of redefining myself and therefore not letting me hold my creativity back.  Of course, maybe it’s the medication.  

So I found myself yesterday at the hobby store throwing a bunch of different things into my cart. 

The first project I tackled was the simplest, and perhaps the most rudimentary.  I made a necklace for Lovely Wife.  Although this didn’t amount to much more than picking out the materials and stringing them together, I am rather pleased with the results.   I know that Lovely Wife will appreciated it due to the effort (however small) that was put into it, but I hope the she finds it aesthetically pleasing as well.

The second project is a clock that I will place in the man cave.  I have always been fascinated with clocks and watches (which I plan on discussing in an upcoming post) This I am also not going to build from scratch–I bought a movement, and therefore I just have to do something with the face.  Because I am really unsure how I want the end project to appear, I may put this one off for a while until inspiration truly hits.  Right now I am envisioning somewhat of a minimalist approach, with only a few or no numbers.  It will be interesting and satisfying to see how it turns out.

The last will be the most challenging and exciting for me.  I bought three small canvases, some oil paint, and an assortment of brushes.  It is exciting because my brush will take me to places that my camera cannot go.  It also gives me the opportunity to be less literal.  Objects won’t have to necessarily behave the way that they do in real life, or have the correct proportions.  However clichéd, I think that my first painting will be a boat, perhaps leaving the stormy waters behind and drifting towards the sunrise.  I think that it perhaps sounds a little corny, but it captures my mood (or at least my aspiration), and I have always been fascinated by the water and the sea.  I sometimes think that I should have joined the Navy or the Coast Guard, but then again, if I had I wouldn’t have met Lovely Wife.  In any event, however the boat picture turns out, whether a clipper at full sail or a fisherman in a rowboat, this will be going up in the wall of the man cave as well.  The second painting that I would do will hang in out kitchen/dining area.  My wife has collected various wine and vineyard themed art works since we have lived in the house, and I like the idea that I could contribute to this as well.  So far no concept has jelled for the final canvas.

The idea of painting is challenging because I am a complete neophyte.  I do remember in 8th grade or so painting a small scene with a mountain and a river.  While I didn’t think it was a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, I remember getting a C on the project and being a little disappointed.  As long as I did the assignment as per the instructions, isn’t grading art a little subjective?  Maybe this is why I haven’t painted all this time.  In any case, I think that the rawness of my technique may be an asset to my vision rather than a liability.

WEDNESDAY FUN: Photo Favorites

Yesterday evening I was outside playing with the kiddos when I spotted this first sure sign of spring.  Nobody poses for photos better than Mother Nature.

Visualizing the Blues

I stated earlier that one of the things that I enjoy is listening and playing music.  So it is natural that I would want to incorporate it into my blog.  The picture at the header seemed like a great way to do this.  At first I went with one of the stock photos for my theme–an old record player.  It was a fantastic picture, but I felt that it didn’t quite fit the essence of my subject, nor was it personal enough.

I decided to post a picture that was somehow evocative of the blues.  There are two reasons why I wanted to represent the blues.  The first is pretty obvious.  If you ask the average person which genre of music most personifies depression, I would bet nearly 100% would say the blues.  The other reason is that it seems to me that no other type of music has had such a profound influence on modern popular styles.  The blues can lay a legitimate claim to being one of the progenitors of Jazz, Country, Rock & Roll, R&B, and Rap.

What you now see at the top of the screen is what I was able to come up with.  Unfortunately the space that I was able to work with didn’t quite catch the full essence of the photo.  Here it is:

It looks like that hat and guitar could have belonged to Robert Johnson himself.  Actually, however, this is an example of another hobby of mine: photography.  The fedora and guitar in the picture actually belong to me.  The hat is from Cabelas and the guitar is from Takamine , both of which were founded long after the early history of the blues.  I had an idea of how I wanted to position them in the picture.  Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find our camera (turns out it was in Lovely Wife’s purse).  So all I had to work with was my cell phone camera.  At first I wasn’t too impressed with what I was able to come up with.  The resolution and lighting just didn’t seem to work, along with the red background from my man cave (basement) wall.  However, after a few simple photo editing tweaks, this is what I came up with.  The gritty quality and the sepia tones actually are quite appropriate for what I was wanting to convey.  I think that I am going to have a framed print made to hang in the man cave.

I hope to share more of my photos in the future.  I actually ordered a new camera this week and am anxiously awaiting its arrival.

What type of hobbies do you have to keep your mind occupied?