Taping the Creative Flame
A musical colleague told me something his teacher would say to him. 'Music is readily available to everyone, but we are seldom readily available to it'. Music = Creativity. Be it photography,…
Squaring Up The Square
When I studied electronics, I would listen to Bach’s Air on G String, written in 4/4 time on repeat. It was part of a memorizing technique I used to recall…
Distribution in Composition
Here is a tool to make your abstracts more meaningful.Particularly in abstracts, the distribution of elements in the frame facilitates the viewer’s eye across the image. The eye is drawn…
To Tidy or Not To Tidy?
Austin Kleon says, “When in Doubt, tidy up.” But what he has to say about tidying up is quite different from what Marie Kondo would teach. Austin says productivity does…
Get Started Already!
There is a saying out there in the world of motivational speak that directs us to ‘Get Started Before You Are Ready’. This is something I am really good at.I’ve…
Sizing Up the Picture
We associate shapes, colors, sizes, placement of objects in images with our life experiences. Red is associated with blood and fire. Sharp edges are seen as threatening, like the edge…
Lydia Knox Instagram Capture
Pay Attention to Lydia Knox
I want to tell you about Lydia Knox - an artist who is talented, resilient, and has put in the time and effort to become the person she is today.…
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Advice from the Bhagavad Gita
In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna, the warrior, stands at the forefront of a fearsome battle. He is riddled with fear and doubt. Luckily, his charioteer is the God Krishna, who teaches…
The studio of artist Lydia Knox.
What Gets In Your Way?
Art is the expression of a life lived. It holds the thoughts and actions of the artist. Whether the viewer sees it or not, art holds the artist's hidden truths.…
It Takes Longer to Build a Habit than You Thought it Did
There is a popular thought that it takes 21 days to turn an action into a habit. Actually, the average time is 66 days. Philippa Lally discovered this in a…
The Golden Ratio
The Golden Ratio is a design ratio that structures the nature of form. It is a mathematical sequence that frequently appears in nature and is found in art and design.…
The Larvae of Marine Snails teaches us about Finding Style
My creative scientist friend Jenn Page, introduced me to the Veliger Larvae of a Marine Snail. These creatures are to marine snails that caterpillars are to butterflies. They are tiny,…
Give ‘Creative’ an Identity
You would say, 'I have hunger' instead of 'I am hungry' in the Spanish language. If you apply the same rule to the word 'CREATIVE,' you can look at it…
Feeling Fatigued?
I read in one of those top 10 lists that are so successful at getting traffic to a page that a good way to deal with fatigue is to exercise! …
Life of a Wave – Wabi Sabi
Wabi-Sabi speaks of the impermanence of things. It points to the natural world in the purest of forms. In his book 'Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers', Leonard Karen…
Symbolize This
I am fond of using symbols in my art. I’ve use birds a lot. In fact, people who know my work assume the birds they see in my photographs are…
The Value of Art
We assess art when we look at it. How does it make us feel? Are we familiar with it? Do we like it? Do we understand the artist’s point of…
The Art of Walking
When building artistic skills, it is helpful to understand how to walk. In his book ‘Create,’ Marc Silber, photographer, author, and mountaineer, talks about teaching mountaineering. He says you don’t…
The Wood Wide Web
Deep beneath the forest ground, trees are connected to their own underground interweb, made of symbiotic fungi called mycorrhiza. Trees can send messages back and forth from tree to tree…
The Appropriateness of Appropriation!
Hold on to your hats! I am about to make a case for stealing. There is actually an art term for it. It is appropriately called - Appropriation. In fact,…
The Juxtaposition of This and That
Juxtaposition is when one element is placed next to another in such a way that a new relationship is created. In visual art, Juxtaposition can be used to express philosophical,…
Context Shapes Shape
In the image, there is a rectangular box with a red triangle inside it. If this artwork was entitled ‘Campground’ the triangle would become a tent. If it was called…
How Creativity Works in The Brain
Understanding how creativity works in the brain allows you to leverage your creative power. There are 4 types of scientifically identified brain activity that correspond to creativity. Deliberate and CognitiveDeliberate…
Take a Chance
I have often heard a photographer dismiss her image because the finished work was not the result she was going for. It happened by accident. The fact is, Chance has…