Fresh Horses
Art illiteracy – Could be your saving grace.
“All children are born artists,” said Picasso. The problem is we grow out of it – or more often we’re educated out of it, as we grow up. We educate kids progressively from the waist up, then we concentrate on the head and slightly to one side. Does creativity equal academic ability ? All intelligence [...]
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How to turn a sabotaging inner critic into an ally.
If you have an inner critic, you probably know how judgment can debilitate creativity. You could tell yourself many stories of why you’re blocked in creative work at times, but the real reason may lie in your past experiences. Whatever the cause, the automatic response to fear is avoidance. And who could blame you ! [...]
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Giving birth to art has to be a gamble.
What will she say about her husband’s insanity, Jack wonders. . . then he marvels at her stunning choice of words. He couldn’t have made it up himself ! Yet, Jack sits at his word processor, and watches to see what will come out of the mouths of his characters in the book he’s writing. [...]
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A spring tonic to renew your creative faith.
If the slow start to spring reflects your own artistic lack of umph, here’s a spring tonic. You might think you cannot make a painting if you can’t draw anything. Or, you can work endlessly on a piece and it seems to go nowhere, or stay unresolved. If you have just finished a big painting, [...]
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Does following your heart mean leading with your feelings ?
Blackberry bushes left too long without picking, or being cut back, can become a tangle of vines that keeps us trapped inside or outside our cabin. By then we can’t even reach the berries, and the birds get them all. While most of us are aware of our own feeling natures, what may be less [...]
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Is a picture worth a mere thousand words ?
Back home from Marrakech with love, this article shares with you some of the sensory feast, in far less than a thousand words. Is a picture worth a mere thousand words ? Our relentless desire to explain everything that happens may well distinguish us from fruit flies, but it can also kill our buzz. When [...]
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Breaking the rules.
“What are you drawing ?” asked the teacher. “A picture of God,” said the girl. “But nobody knows what God looks like.” “They will in a minute.” A woman confesses: “Now art – that really is dangerous. Everyone laughs at you when you get it wrong, and then you have to live out your natural [...]
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How can you trust if an inspiration is whim or wisdom ?
I felt scared and incompetent, yet attracted at the same time. I heard about a workshop in Marrakech, and it grabbed my attention on a deep level. At the same time, doubts and fears surfaced. How could I even consider this trip ? How can I be responsible and leave my ailing husband ? Do [...]
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It isn’t easy to be simple enough to just be.
At this time of year, New Year’s resolutions go the way of all great intentions. Many have told me they don’t make resolutions any more because they never last. So is it hopeless to expect your wants and needs will ever be met ? Or, do you berate yourself for not sticking to them ? [...]
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The wisdom in catering to yourself.
A reader of Fresh Horses wrote that she can make animal portraits which please her buyers but they don’t really connect with her heart. If economic need or pleasing other people drives you, where do your own needs get met ? To many would-be and beginning artists, the notion of working on commission seems [...]