Ria Sharon

pondering creativity, process, and making art

DAY 33: Iris in the big green chair

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iris-in-chair

Leigh asked the group, “What going on for you at this stage in the process?”

I’d have to say that it feels like I’m settling into a groove of some sort. Perhaps it’s because this 48 Days of Creative Devotion came on the heels of The Artist’s Way and I’m also doing The 100 Day Project (It occurs to me that I might be gorging on art-making. Maybe.)

BUT it also feels like capacity-building. I have these tasks that I just do now. I don’t feel “pressure” to do them. I just do them. Like scales for a pianist or voice exercises.

I’m also not as attached to the end-products. They are just x/48 or x/100. They are not so precious, which is a really, really good for me.

DAY 24: On Death and Rebirth

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old-roses-600

Little 1: That’s nice. But it would be better if they weren’t dead.
Me: It’s what’s in front of me right now.

It is Good Friday in the Christian world. Things die today. And as is said in one of my favorite musicals, The Fantasticks, “… we must all die a bit before we grow again.”

@48Dayscreative

DAY 21: Chairs

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art modern chairA few years ago, I got to attend the inaugural COCABiz Spark conference. The keynote was Kevin Carroll, “Katalyst” play advocate, author of The Rules of the Red Rubber Ball.

He set the stage well for the importance of play in the workplace. During that 1.5 day conference, I got to learn negotiating skills in a dulcimer jam session and leadership through Argentine tango! Not only was it really fun and playful but I learned real, applicable skills—ones that I’ve used on a regular basis since then.

Why the chairs? Well, last week, thanks to the universe, the university and Chris, I had the pleasure of yet another workshop at COCA. It was reminder of some things that Kevin said in his talk—how play facilitates teamwork, encourages risktaking, innovative problem-solving, and ignites creativity. This time, we worked with Robert Morgan, Senior Lecturer in Scenic Design. We designed chairs.

Our team really does design things together but all digital things and I learned so much about our internal processes specifically because we were working in a physical, non-work-related, low-risk environment. It was that freaky yet cool world’s colliding kinda thing to be coloring with my colleagues. Going along with what I said in my chapter 11 post, I find that opportunities to get out of my head yield so much. It was great validation for “the power of play.”

So hat tip to the Digital Communications Team. My #48dayscreative piece for today… CHAIRS!

DAY 2: 48 Days of Creative Devotion

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I know, I know… one more thing?!
I’m telling you, I’m serious about #CRAFT!

What Leigh of All Creativelike said on her blog post really resonated with me:

I learned that sometimes when you really, really don’t feel like making anything, you make your best work. I learned that the combo of consistency and visibility lead to greater prosperity. I learned that creative devotion allows for new ideas to bubble up and new threads to be explored. And, I learned that just showing up and starting was a huge part of an artist’s job.

So, I’m in. This is actually DAY 2:

 

© Ria Sharon