Driving on the Wrong Side of the Brain

   Yes, you read that right. Some of you might think I meant to put ‘drawing on the right side of the brain’, which is the title to a drawing book by Betty Edwards. Her book is about learning to drawing by training the right side of the brain with appropriate exercises. An excellent book for anyone wanting to explore that aspect of creative growth, it supports everything I teach my students. 

Well, I didn’t intend to refer to that book, but it makes sense to. What I want to share is my recent tour of Ireland by car and the practice it takes to retrain the brain to do something unfamiliar.  Driving on the opposite side of the road is a perfect example of how we can learn new things by over-riding habits of the brain. I’ve been driving a stick shift since I was 16 years old. Initially, it was about getting better gas mileage, but more so it was to stay physically involved with the process of driving, so I’d be more aware and safer on the road. New rules require new habits.

Driving in Ireland required that I not only keeping the car to the left and looking to the right when making a turn, but sitting on the right side of the car with the shift (thank God automatic) on the left. Training myself to  deliberately and consciously scan every other car, bump, turn and roundabout along the road I had to create new response pathways in my brain to create new habits of thinking. I hoped I would eventually relax while driving, but that never happened. I was always on guard. I couldn’t trust my right brain road habits not to take over unconsciously. I did once, actually twice, make a right turn into the wrong lane and it wasn’t until the end of the week that I stopped feeling lost when I looked to my right for the rear view mirror that wasn’t there (it was to my left). Most roads were barely wide enough for two cars. Even in Connecticut, country roads are wider and main roads are slower. Spatial relationships are tested when you have to judge how close you are to the wall next to the passenger door (your left) and take corners when those same walls block your vision of on coming traffic. I left the rental car with reminders of bramble bush caresses and more than a few stone wall hugs.  The good news is that by the end of the week, I had repeated new driving habits often enough that I felt more confident of learning new ways of doing something opposite from what is so familiar.

What has this got to do with creativity?  Everything. The key is to exercise our brains to do new things, so that we keep learning. Creativity requires both sides of the brain. Life requires both sides of the brain.  I do believe that even though I use my whole brain, habits create little pathways that can become ruts if we don’t change them up now and then. Imagine that with left brain activities as well. Language is a matter of practice, balancing one’s check book is a matter of practice, playing a musical instrument is a matter of practice, as is art making. The key to creative growth is the diversity of the practice to take the skills to new creative levels. Improvisation strengthens creative commentary. Not that one should make up new road rules, but believe me, my driving experience in Ireland allowed me to see more. I didn’t just see new places, but I developed a keener awareness of the spaces I traveled through. Roundabouts all look the same, but each offers the possibility of several roads to take or a bumper to crash into. One cannot look at each round-about the same way.

“I’ve seen all good people turn their heads each day, so satisfied I’m on my way.”  -Yes    

You’re creative task is to do something backwards or opposite (make safe choices). Try writing your name backwards or upside down or with your opposite hand. Walk backwards (in an open space, it’s just the act of walking backwards you want, not the obstacles). Drive to work another route. Get out of bed on the opposite side (better yet sleep with your head on the opposite end of your bed). Change the order in which you normally do a task. It doesn’t matter whether or not it’s more efficient, it’s just an exercise to strengthen your brain. Creativity comes from what we know and what new experiences we bring to it.

A Ball of Yarn

A simple ball of yarn has so much potential. I mean it literally, but it stands up to metaphoric expectations as well. To follow the trail of a ball of yarn, one must start by unwinding at the beginning. I repeat ‘the beginning’.  Connecting the beginning of the ball of yarn to a crochet or knitting needle begins the journey. One string can connect into its own stitches or enmesh with stitches on a loom that convolute into infinite possibilities. I can follow a standard pattern that will give me a predictable solution (hat, sweater, blanket…) or I can work out my own plans for a unique more personal result. I can make it practical or simply aesthetic. By using a set series of different stitches I can get textures, repeated patterns, solid consistent rows or erratic random surprises. All of this with one ball of yarn that starts at the beginning and finishes at the end.

What I appreciate about the process is that I can purposefully determine the outcome, take a risk at creating something unexpected or improvise either way. I don’t worry about errors, it’s a journey and adjustments are part of it. My commitment is to the ball of yarn and if I’m paying attention to it along the way, it will respond to my guiding hand.

I challenge those who say that a ball of yarn has two ends? How can that be? There has to be a beginning and an end and they are not interchangeable. One starts, the other finishes.  If we looked at our life line we would see that is how it is. Just like the ball of yarn we create a tapestry of experiences that are not always strictly linear, but certainly leading to a completed life. We can’t rewind it, but we can redirect it. We can look for patterns to follow for structure and improvise when the plan does not work for our needs. We can choose to walk a straight line (like the goodie two shoes that I am), but that actually shortens the distance between the beginning and the end ( so now I know better). That ball of yarn is not an infinite strand, but it contains infinite possibilities. Create your life that way. To quote a wise man – “See the ball, be the ball.” –Caddyshack. You have a beginning and can create a deliberate and complete life. If your journey takes you off the straight path you may get a bit tangled up, but it may be part of the plan.

Another wise person said, “It will all work out in the end”. May I add, if it isn’t worked out, it isn’t the end.

Assignment-by knitting or crocheting you will make creative and practical applications, but you will also center yourself in your own ball of yarn as you unwind it. There are great opportunities in adult education programs and yarn shops. Even some libraries have knitting groups that are communities of kindred spirits and great teachers of the craft. Everyone participating is there for the purpose of making something from a ball of yarn.

“Of Glorious Plumage”- Brainstorming and Collaboration

What do those words conjure up for you, “Of Glorious Plumage”? The first time I heard them was in a meeting where the task was to write a sample learning objective. It sounds technical and boring- “learning objective”, but it’s common vocabulary for educators .  At the end of a long day (with limited energy and brain power left) the task still isn’t really that exciting, but I don’t like to waste energy on a sample. If I’m going to write one, I want it to be useful in the end.

I had the good fortune to be sitting next to Tom Boates,  a music educator and orchestra conductor in my school.  “Let’s write one for both of us,” I suggested, wanting to kill two birds with one stone. I was tired.  Well, birds it was.

I asked what he was working on in class and it turned out that he was conducting a piece of contemporary music titled “Of Glorious Plumage” by composer Richard Meyer. It was written in the influence of the Impressionist movement in music. Whoa. Impressionism? Do we see a connection here?

By the way, I had peacocks strutting their tails in full fan in my head from the title, but Tom talked about eagles and terns on wing floating on thermals . Wow, how could our images be so different? That’s where listening skills come in. Once I heard the music , I understood his vision clearly. What power the extra sense has in our response to the world around us.

Needless to say, we collaborated on a lesson that combined visual art with music.  Mr. Boates came into talk with my students about various genres of music Classical, Romantic and Impressionistic to set a context to creative development in music. He enthusiastically shared his art books on Impressionism and made connections to the visual applications of Impressionism. I worked with both introductory and advanced students to challenge them in two very different assignments. The advanced students researched their birds and created complete compositions to interpret their take on the music. The intro students also researched birds. They were each given a strip of brown wrapping four inches wide and ten feet long. Each created repetitive designs of birds and feathers and beaks and even habitat images across the strips of paper. Then all of the strips were woven into a huge nest in the main foyer showcase at the school.

The day before the performance, members of the orchestra were shown the art that their performance piece had inspired.  So as it turned out, our learning objective did not “kill” any birds, but brought many to life in a creative collaboration.

Look around to see what others are doing and how it inspires you. It might not be another artist, but a chef or dancer. Open up a dialogue of possible ways to work together on a project that combines each medium in a common thematic goal. It could be designing a garden with a botanical expert or recycling water bottles into a art with an environment group. Seek commonalities with others that you think might be on different paths and see what a good brainstorm can create.

Creative Action

We live in interesting times. Some people face difficult days, others wake to more joyful expectations. I know. I get up at 5 am in the dark most working days and believe me, it isn’t easy. Not for what lies ahead, but because no matter what time I go to bed at night, my deep sleep is 4 am to 7 am, which means an abrupt awakening.  Of course, once I’ve coaxed my body awake (hint: it takes sunrise to go into effect, so I’m clearly not a vampire), I really have a pretty good day in store. I believe that when I start my day.  That said, I’m not immune to unfortunate news and events . I have concerns about things like anybody else. Things like the economy, children in need, health, war, human rights, animal rights – oh yes ,the list is endless. How does anyone function with so much negative energy in the world? As an artist it find it helps to work on my thoughts about such things, but not all of them at once.  I can accept just how cruel the world can be or  I can generate  a thought to make a difference in my day or someone else’s.

“For every action in the Universe, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Get it?

As a creative person, I find it easy enough to generate good actions. The challenge is to react to negative actions with equal, opposite and effective force. I’ve said it before, art has the power to improve the human condition and elevate the human spirit.  Sometimes just making an injustice visible or simply singing while you grocery shop is the action to take.

I challenge you to take action.Use your creative voice, your vision of what can be and your courage to make commentary. Communicate in your most comfortable medium or take a risk in a new one. If banging a drum to the rhythm of your day does it for you, strap one on. You may even start a parade.

If you prefer to “make something” then look in the news papers and magazines for things going on in the world that you have an opinion about. Real issues, like the economy, family values, celebrities who have no merit to be such, charities you believe in, political points of view, a local hero and the list goes on.

Read through the article and look for key words that trigger your unique thoughts on it. Look for  or create  images to represent your toughts. You may find words have enough power to be included, but consider the visual impact. Cut the images and lay them out in a composition. Use copy machines or scan into a photo shop program to make adjustments in size, color etc. Print, cut and add to final collage. A glue stick will hold it together, if only a glue stick were all that the world needed.  Add mixed media to emphasize design and make your statement stronger.

“For every action in the Universe, there is an equal and opposite reaction”.

What is your action?

Planting Seeds

It’s not too late in the season to plant seeds. It’s actually never too late when you think metaphorically. I spent some time this morning with my sister at a local farmer’s market held at the Dudley Farm in North Guilford, CT. This farmer’s market has a wonderful variety of vendors that not only include local produce growers, but also bakers, crafters and blue grass musicians. Deb got some luscious looking tomatoes, fresh basil, squash and cucumbers. I found my way to my favorite baker to pick up a giant loaf of cinnamon bread (makes the best ever French Toast).

Clearly the vegetables had been planted early enough in the season to be ready to sell now. However, I had planted a seed at the farm last fall that is just about to bloom, metaphorically. I’d contacted a lovely woman named Phyllis by phone, who organizes the farmer’s market to plan a special book signing event for Nature’s Royal Tea Party. Typical New England weather, the only dates open last Fall were rained out miserably. Today, without planning  it, I finally met Phyllis in person and we picked another date, let’s hope a dry one. There is a point to sharing this story other than self promotion- by the way the date is July 17th from 9am-noon.

Yes, my point- I recommend that anyone wanting to make things happen, whether it’s improving career options, learning a new skill, improving social connections or, in my case, sharing my creative process- just plant seeds. It simply means do something each day, anything,  toward your goal. You won’t always get an immediate result, but it’s really kind of neat how things start to pop up if you plant the seeds to begin with.  A seed I planted in January at a fundraiser for the Children’s Museum grew into an invitation by the New London Public Library to present my book at  the Fish Tales, Tugs and Sails event July 24th (yes, more self promotion, but it’s all good).

You can’t always predict what will grow, but keep planting seeds. You will reap a beautiful garden. Of course planting real seeds is not a bad idea either. A beautiful garden may indeed be the best goal.

Creative Community

I think a lot of artists will agree that the creative process is not always a social event.I can attest to the difference   between being in a studio classroom space with twenty other souls engaged in all sorts of creative mischief and     working in quiet isolation with serious intent. A lot of artists and writers work in isolation, not necessarily by choice, but by the nature of the work they do.

As much as I enjoy teaching, my classroom experiences are more about facilitating creativity, not making my own art. The larger the group and level of action the more distracted I can be. I won’t even think of sitting in on a digital imaging course with other students. You lost me at hello. Oddly enough, my students (at least the 7:30 am class) are so focused, it can be scary quiet. I do better in my own space, with my own stuff and without interruption for a few hours, then I get antsy for feedback and conversation. Yes,I get lonely.

It really is important to develop a creative community, not only for making art, but also for sharing creative conversations. I meet monthly with a small group of creatives. We all have things to share that support and celebrate our accomplishments. We as individuals evolve with the group as our goals change. For several years now, I can count on my peers to teach me, to respond to my work constructively and to challenge my thoughts about so many things. I always walk out of a meeting feeling lighter and inspired.

To do list: Invite a small group of creative minds to meet for the simple purpose of sharing a creative experience. Whether it’s to make art or discuss it. Be willing to facilitate the meeting and set a format to help keep the group on track and give everyone time to participate. If it’s making art, choose a common focus for individual interpretation. (My painting above is the result of a painting day with my friend Roxanne at her studio.) Our group is more often a discussion group. We try to start with an update of events, open calls for artist, general news related to our purpose. Then we allot so much time for each participant to share the status of their creative, technical, or business goals, to ask for feedback on a particular project, or ask for help with resources and so on. You can find your people in all sorts of places. I found mine at a workshop that I attended.  When the course ended, I asked strangers if anyone wanted to continue meeting for the purposes stated above. Six of us have grown through our creative challenges into great friends. I am a happier and  better artist as a result of it. You will be too.

I dedicate this post to my creative tribe- Roxanne, Janet, Merrilyn, Doreen and Angie.

Little Os of Oats in Design

You know what I’m talking about- little Os of oats, Cheerios, my favorite breakfast cereal. I saw the funniest thing recently at the Children’s Museum. Yes, I’ve been hanging around with the wee folk. The extra reserve of energy and sense of wonder with the 0-5 year old crowd makes up for their lack of self discipline, running around till they trip on air and chanting their favorite word “NO”. Hilarious. Of course, since I wasn’t the one running around after them, it really was. I must say that the parents of these little desperados behaved beautifully. It was a pleasure to be there among them.  So, Cheerios. Where does that come in? The museum staff set up a few activity tables for hands on crafty things. One had a container of Cheerios and shoe laces to string necklaces. Initially, I was concerned about the little peeps putting strings around their necks, I’m overly cautious. Turns out not too many of the little Os of oats ever made it onto the laces. They ate them. I think the parents did a good job of safety patrol on that call.  What may have been more important for that age was the experience of developing the child’s senses, mostly touch and taste.

Okay, so what does this have to do with Creativity? Well, when it comes to preparing a project for others to participate in, test it. Finger painting with pudding is another fun idea, but I would be the first to lick my fingers. Really. So imagine health issues with that and save it for personal expression, not a  community arts & crafts project.

Even with non-food creativity, testing is important. Take Origami. There is no magic age that is Origami appropriate, I’ve seen third graders persistently tackle a crane with up to thirty folds and adults lose it making a paper cup with only four folds.  Maybe one on one or a small group experience would be better.

What I like about Cheerios, besides the taste and health benefits, are that they are empty circles inside solid circles, which I find fascinating. They are an introduction to design, simple as it is, they inspire more design.  If I thought more about it, which I have, I would have circles of all sizes cut out of colored paper ready to be arranged on a larger rectangle or square piece of paper.  They could be abstract (like bubbles floating randomly) or put together to represent something, like a caterpillar or butterfly. More lines could be added with marker. Just brainstorming here- but before I put it out for kids to “be creative with”, I would test it. How many ways can I arrange five circles, ten circles, twenty circles? How many colors or what sizes would I be likely to use? How many representational images can I think of that circles would be part of? I’ve made a list of at least five circle inspired things and my final choice is dandelions, before and after they go to seed. I need yellow circles and white circles and a green background.  I could use a marker to make loops for the yellow petals and straight lines crossing through the center of the white ones.  I’m confident my other ideas would work too.

Be inspired by Cheerios- either create something out of them like the little kids would (unless you too are tempted to eat them) or set a real grown up challenge.  Lay them out in an interesting composition (I would let mine float in the bowl of milk) and draw them on paper, shadows and all. Notice how the light reflects off the milk and bowl. Or let them spill randomly out of the box onto the table, how does that inspire a composition for drawing? I, for one, am happy that Cheerios were invented. It’s one of my favorite snack foods and I just might string some for a necklace to nibble on.

Fairy Tale Ball- Flowers

   Last Saturday was the Fairy Tale Ball, a fundraiser for the Children’s Museum of Southeastern CT in Niantic. I was invited to share my children’s book Nature’s Royal Tea Party in the form of a tablescape. Ten guests attending the event would have the honor of sitting at the table for dinner, however everyone attending was able to walk around the room to admire all the tables with visual depictions of children’s books  by brilliant designers. http://gallery.me.com/cherylkling#100069

 I’ve talked in my blog before about place settings and table decor, but this was an event of extreme tablescapes. The entire room was filled with magic  all in the name of childhood. Yet it was for the grown ups to enjoy, way past the bedtime of the wee ones.

   I enlisted help from some of my high school students to create a centerpiece filled with paper flowers that  appear in my book. The Queen Anne’s Lace was made with a card board disc, white paper doily and little teacups and saucers made with paper clay. All of the parts were glued together  and attached to with wire stem  with crêpe paper on wire for leaves .  Don’t underestimate the power of floral tape. It takes so little to make ordinary wire look like a stem. It takes so little to make a piece  of paper to look like a beautiful flower.

You can make a floral centerpiece from paper. There are great books on paper craft or just Google ‘paper flower patterns.’

Posies were made with small paper circles  folded in quarters, then cut to make a scalloped edge. They were mounted on a wire with floral tape. We put several posies on each stem.  I used real Milkweed , with pods attached, that I  sprayed gold to add more texture and contrast.  I was so excited that the Milkweed seeds were still in the pods, but over time it became clear that I had to remove the seeds. As the pods dried, the seeds unfolded and , well, just imagine hundreds of little fluffs of white floating all over the house like fairies. They could not be harnessed with any sealer. I tried. Fairies want to fly freely. To add to the theme, I cut pictures of the characters and attached them to wire stakes and placed them among the flowers. You can put the stems all in to a narrow vase or push some floral foam down into a wider pot to better control the placement.  Consider your focal points as the strongest colors or most ornate flowers and fill in with smaller flowers to create a balance around the centerpiece. Have fun with it.

Memories & Creativity- Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all. Steve asked me last night as 2009 ended, what was my most memorable New Years Eve. Granted, I’ve spent more than several of them listening to his band at a party, but sorry honey, they were not my most memorable. Listening to music is always great and his band is awesome, but those New Year’s Eve gigs all blend together since the volume excludes much interactive conversations. And yes, folks, I was sober, so you can’t blame my faded memories on the influence of booze or other mind altering elements like, oh say, sleep deprivation. I take plenty of naps.

But he asked about my most memorable, not my best (which of course are those spent with him). My most vivid New Year’s Eve memory is strikingly simple. I was at my sister Kim’s house the  year she and her husband Andy moved to the Florida Keys. He was working the night shift at the airport in Miami, so it was just Kim and me. We didn’t plan anything other than maybe to stay up for the traditional ball drop countdown in Times Square on TV.

I’d nodded off on the coach on the enclosed porch, which is where I was going to sleep anyway. Just before midnight it starting pouring rain. I mean teeming. The sky had opened and rain was pounding on the corrugated vinyl-plastic roof like a train running through the night desert full speed or maybe more like a stampede of cattle. I’ve actually heard both, so I know what I’m talking. It was LOUD, deafening loud. Anyway, it was a startling way to wake up, but I just lay there listening in fascination to the pounding. It was minutes before midnight, Kim was awake and appeared with a cups of tea to welcome the new year. We sat under a roof of loud rain that seemed so determined to wash the world clean. Well, at least our part of the world. That is my memory and I don’t even expect that she wouldn’t remember it.

Okay, what has this to do with creativity? I guess I’m exploring how we experience things through our senses and how that may affect our memories. Our memories are great places to explore for creative inspiration. Why did the loud rain evoke a more vivid memory than the loud music of Steve’s band? I don’t know, but perhaps it was about being a unique and unexpected experience.

How can this help you be creative? Pay attention to what causes you to pause. What are the sensational components of your memories? (Visual, sounds, movement, touch, aroma or flavor)  What caught your attention? How did it make you feel? How can you use it expressively in your creative medium?

So what was your most memorable New Year’s Eve, birthday or holiday. Write about it, paint it, compose a melody…and pay attention everyday to what might make a memory.

A Stampede of Wild Rocking Horses

I drove up a long dirt driveway, through the woods toward the home of an artist I know. I had never been to her studio, so it was a new experience. Along the dirt road were little stone totems to either side. The rocks were placed one on top of another, biggest at the bottom and smallest at the top. They seemed randomly placed along either side of the road to greet visitors as they approach, but I know that each was carefully stacked in just the right place to appear random. That is a creative skill that I call “intuitive composition” or in places that are less obviously art, “intuitive placement.” It is quite intentional, simply processed using our senses.

I do think it is a skill that comes with the territory of being a right brained person, but with practice it can be learned and improved. Beyond the stone monoliths, I came to a clearing with a pond  to my right and the artist’s home and studio ahead. The adventure was just beginning. Along the edge of the pond were a dozen or so wild plastic rocking horses on spring frames (vintage 1950s-60s). The horses were painted with broad diagonal strokes of bright colors and were all posed as if galloping across the yard. Again, how can you calculate galloping horses to look randomly in action? Intuitive composition.

I could go on about my visual feast during this visit, about the house looking like it belonged in a fairy tale. The garden fence had Laurel branches woven around the top and antique iron bed frames placed at intervals against it. That was a tactic to confuse the deer, so they won’t try to hurdle the fence to get at the garden. Everywhere I looked on this artist’s clearing were odd little shrines of old toys and antique signs or machinery. All in just the right spot to be noticed, but at the same time blend in as a natural part of the yard, woods and two ponds that surround the house. Since then I’ve been looking at how I embellish my environment and where my wild rocking horses are stampeding.

How often do you explore your yard ? What natural forms can you create that establish a sense of awe or to meditate among? What objects can make bird baths other those commercially produced as such? Does you garden have fairy houses? Is there a sign that provokes a chuckle or a path that guides you through a labyrinth? Even in the stark winter, there are objects that can be intuitively placed to create a sense of intrigue or excitement or meditation. Study your space. Study your object of interest. Move about the space and place the objects in random spots and step back. Rather than thinking about it’s effect, feel it. It will tell you where it wants  to be. No kidding . You’ll hear it in your head. If you can find some wild rocking horses, they will more likely whinny.