The Everyday Artist | Page 3 of 8 | Blogging about art and creativity with a slice of life.

This moment

Post author:Farhad Desai
Post published:November 30, 2020
Post category:Mindfulness / Poetry

In the play of time and space, It has taken this long. And this is where we are. In this moment. As it exists within linear time and space.…

Are We Having a Conversation or an Argument?

Post author:Farhad Desai
Post published:November 29, 2020
Post category:Mindfulness

I once had a conversation with a colleague where I was agreeing with him and commending him on his insights. At one point he looked confused and said, You're not…

Op Art

Post author:Jamuna Burry
Post published:November 29, 2020
Post category:365 Days / Elements of Art

Op Art is short for Optical Art. It refers to art that creates a perceptual illusion in the frame. This is usually achieved by the calculated placement of a repeated…

The Brain Offers A Clue Into Our Nature

Post author:Jamuna Burry
Post published:November 28, 2020
Post category:365 Days

I just watched one of the most impactful Ted Talks ever. Jill Bolte Taylor is a brain scientist who studies severe mental illnesses. She tells the story of how her…

Flow

Post author:Farhad Desai
Post published:November 28, 2020
Post category:Elements of Art / Mindfulness / Writing

Flow is something I think about a lot. Am I in it? How do I get into it? Am I going with it? Am I resisting it? When I think…

Mick Jagger-ing It.

Post author:Jamuna Burry
Post published:November 27, 2020
Post category:365 Days

When I go out into the world to do daily things, my capability is higher than my audacity. It's just the way I happen to have turned out.I have friends…

Editing, Judgement, and Discernment

Post author:Farhad Desai
Post published:November 27, 2020
Post category:Elements of Art / Mindfulness / Writing

Have you ever heard the expression, There are no bad ideas in brainstorming? I think of stream of consciousness writing as a form of brainstorming. It's not to say there…

Art as Meditation or Meditation as Art?

Post author:Farhad Desai
Post published:November 26, 2020
Post category:Mindfulness / Uncategorized / Writing

I love meditating, but I don't believe that sit-down meditation is the only true form of meditation. When I write, and focus only on that, I can get lost in…

Art and the Gender Gap

Post author:Jamuna Burry
Post published:November 26, 2020
Post category:365 Days / Elements of Art

Is there a difference between men and women when it comes to art? Well, yes. Historically artists who have made the most significant impact on the world have been male.…

Memory and Writing

Post author:Farhad Desai
Post published:November 25, 2020
Post category:Writing

I love writing about moments that intersect with multiple events. Right now I'm working on an article about my experiences in 1992, when I played violin in the Bombay Chamber…

Slaying Monsters

Post author:Jamuna Burry
Post published:November 24, 2020
Post category:365 Days

The website didn’t do what was expected of it the other day. It skipped over a couple of steps. Failed, and then started working again. Even though the entire event…

Trees are Like Sadhus

Post author:Farhad Desai
Post published:November 24, 2020
Post category:Mindfulness / Poetry

They sit rooted in one place and grow. Without moving they learn and listen and then sit even longer. They provide shelter and comfort and home for others. They…

Commitment and Improv

Post author:Farhad Desai
Post published:November 23, 2020
Post category:Farhad

In improv, where there's no script or stage direction to lean on, commitment to who I am and who is with me on stage is far more important than what…

Talent vs Skill

Post author:Jamuna Burry
Post published:November 23, 2020
Post category:365 Days

Steve Martin is known to have said, “I have no talent. None”. That is good news for me because I am not particularly talented and don’t have much of an…

Distracted

Post author:Jamuna Burry
Post published:November 22, 2020
Post category:365 Days

I’ve had an unfocused and distracted day bouncing from one thing to the other, attempting to grasp a task by the tail and see it to it’s creative completion. Had…

Limitations and the Creative Process

Post author:Farhad Desai
Post published:November 22, 2020
Post category:Creative Tools / Farhad / Writing

Sometimes, the hardest part of the creative process is getting started. In the early 1990s, I used to perform improv comedy in Toronto and the surrounding regions. Doing improv helped…

Pleasing Planar Symmetry

Post author:Jamuna Burry
Post published:November 21, 2020
Post category:Elements of Art

As a photographer, we learn right away that repeating patterns make for interesting images. Every workshop has you looking for and making photos where the pattern repeats. We love seeing…

Finding Your Voice

Post author:Farhad Desai
Post published:November 21, 2020
Post category:Farhad / Writing

Finding one's voice is something we hear writers talk about a lot. It can be very easy for some and is a longer process for others. I started writing stories…

I have almond milk. Catastrophe averted.

Attachment to Expectations and Almond Milk

Post author:Farhad Desai
Post published:November 20, 2020
Post category:Farhad / Mindfulness

I have lots of expectations. From the moment I wake up till I fall asleep at the end of the day. I expect to make a cup of masala chai…

Struggles with Language Learning in COVID times

Post author:Jamuna Burry
Post published:November 20, 2020
Post category:365 Days

What I notice is my fear that I will have to speak or be spoken to in the language I am struggling to understand. The first semester of Portuguese class…

Leaves changing colours in Toronto.

Growth and Change

Post author:Farhad Desai
Post published:November 19, 2020
Post category:Farhad / Mindfulness

Part of the beauty of playing with creativity is continually being open to newness, change, and growth. But part of growth also means I may not be the same today…

Ambiguously Intriguing

Post author:Jamuna Burry
Post published:November 19, 2020
Post category:Elements of Art

An artist is always wondering how to push the envelope and create something that engages the audience. While there are many ways of making captivating images, there is one in…

The Niagara River.

Mindfulness Reminders

Post author:Farhad Desai
Post published:November 18, 2020
Post category:Farhad / Mindfulness

I had a client who found the concept of mindfulness to be stressful. He felt that he not only had to handle the fast-paced, ever-changing, and increasingly-demanding life he already…

Attention

Post author:Jamuna Burry
Post published:November 18, 2020
Post category:365 Days

The world around us is loud. When I sit at my computer to work, there are dozens of things that pull me away and send me down rabbit holes. It…