Tuesday, November 28, 2006

About Creativity

SharonB has made some very interesting comments about nurturing creativity on her blog.

I have a few thoughts. Although I don't keep a visual journal, I do save snippets of things or ideas I see. I always keep a spiral notebook around to write down steps to make a project or sketch an idea of something I see on TV, like on a quilting or craft show. I have several of these notebooks full of instructions and sketches. Before I had a digital camera, I would scan a color copy of everything I made, especially if it was a gift and wasn't going to be around for me to examine later.

I also tear pictures out of catalogs, magazines, etc. and mount them in a large spiral sketchbook. I have put so many of these pictures in a book, that I went back, numbered the pages, and created a table of contents for it. So then I know on what pages I will find ideas for fans, peacocks, kimonos, etc. The pictures in this spiral sketchbook can be a source of inspiration for me when I don't know what to do with myself. It's like a mini-trip to a museum, a jewelry store, or a textile show. Since these were things that inspired me at one time, they can still inspire me 5 years later, just like Sharon mentioned.

I do marvel at the organization of some of you ladies' work rooms. Although the materials I use are organized, I can never keep the horizontal surfaces clear. I have a long table to use to work on, but frequently end up laying things out on the ironing board or the floor because things with no home pile up on these "work surfaces". It may be because that's the room that hides the Christmas presents, holds all the things I made for the boutique, etc. but once those are over with, I have no excuse....

Happy Stitching....

2 comments:

sharonb said...

Your notebook described is what i would call a visula journal - its a working document used to stimulate and record awhat you have seen - they are very useful

Susan said...

I find myself moving more and more away from a notebook, and into folders on my computer. Maybe it's because I haven't subscribed to many craft magazines over the years. I have almost every Quilter's Newsletter, but beyond that, not a lot. Most of my ideas come from the internet, so they tend to stay in folders I organized on my hard drive. The same kinds of things, though.