Why human creativity matters now more than ever before
Why human creativity matters now more than ever before
Also: new paintings - the Flower Party Series has arrived!
New series of paintings: The Flower Party Series
I’ve been wanting to paint flowers again for a long time now, and they have finally started to grow. It is summertime, after all, and it’s wonderful to walk around my neighborhood looking at all of the flowers everywhere. They each have their own personality, or so it seems to me, and that is how I want to paint them.
I can’t wait to start growing flowers myself, which will happen in my yard next year. In the meantime, in lieu of having actual flowers in my garden just yet, I present the Flower Party Series. These acrylic paintings are layered with lots of rich colors, simple shapes, and a richness of depth in their surfaces. I’ve got two pieces complete and ready to go here, with another bunch growing and soon ready to go.
New painting: ‘Invitation To A Flower Party’
The flowers are throwing another party, and we are all invited! It's their season, summertime, and according to the flowers, every day is a perfect occasion to celebrate. The daisies, roses, cosmos, lilies, and all the rest are showing up in their most colorful and elegant finery - everyone's petals are fresh and fragrant today.
Please come as the flower you already are, no need to hide behind someone else's petals. The flowers want to see the real you.
‘Invitation To A Flower Party’ is an acrylic on paper painting, 6” x 8”, $125.00 includes U.S. shipping. Purchase this original painting here.
Fine art prints of this image are for sale in my Fine Art America shop.
New painting: ‘Let’s Get This Flower Party Started’
The lights are turned up, and everyone is here dressed in their most colorful petals and ready to dance the night away. The moths, fireflies, and all the other sparkly night creatures are on their way, and soon this place will be a joyful whirlwind of beautiful scents, sparkly jewel tones, and happy whirring sounds.
The flower party makes its own music wherever it goes, the song is never exactly the same as before. You have to be there in the moment to experience the full magic!
‘Let’s Get This Flower Party Started’ is an acrylic on paper painting, 9” x 12”, $175.00 includes shipping in the U.S.. Purchase this original painting.
Fine art prints of this image are for sale in my Fine Art America shop.
Your very human creativity matters now more than ever before
Nothing outside of you can replace your unique and creative human spirit.
Especially when you care for it, feed it, and give it room to play, your creative spirit will reward you time and time again with a deepening knowing, trust, and certainty. One of the things I’ve learned from being an artist is that I can trust that I’ll find my way to the next steps or an answer in my creative process, because even in the darkest of times I’ve done so before. I know that if I show up, I’ll get there eventually.
Trusting this process is the key. Sometimes I have to show up a lot, trusting that it will come despite all evidence to the contrary. I have to ignore those nasty little fears that tell me I’ve lost my way. Simply allowing myself to create without being ruled by the demand to ‘produce something of value’, helps me find my way out of what feels like a dead end creatively.
I’ve learned that all of this is part of the process of creating, and going beyond what I’ve done before. New paths sometimes look a bit bleak or dark before one steps onto them. An important part of creating is destroying, it’s essential to create the space for the new.
As an artist and creative who’s made money for many years selling my original work, I’ve found I’ve had to deprogram out the notion that every time I show up to make art I have to spend my time wisely and produce something good. Time is money, blah blah. Except. We need time, as creatives, to experiment, play, and invent. To not make sense, to make ugly art and mistakes and a huge mess. To ‘waste’ expensive art supplies, and feel invalidated in the midst of it all, can sometimes be part of the next creative breakthrough.
I don’t know any artists of any kind who simply show up daily and everything is perfect. Our deepest selves are being called on in our creations - we are not machines producing one perfect work after another. Some art works take years to show up, others suddenly appear out of the blue, nearly complete. The trick is to be present enough, to have been playing and feeding one’s creativity and caring for all of it, to allow the space needed for that new creation to appear.
It’s messy, but that is what it is, sometimes emotionally messy, sometimes in other ways. Messy is not wrong, it’s the healing here. Being human is not a perfectly neat experience, and we do ourselves a disservice when we expect our creativity to be perfect in some way.
Creativity comes with the spirit - you were creative enough to figure out a way to get here, after all. Being creative is one of the top reasons why I wanted to be here in this lifetime. The opportunities to create and grow are greater than ever, even in late stage capitalism with all of its demands to put a price tag on everything, meanwhile devaluing the contribution of human beings. Your spirit cannot be bought and sold, not for any price.
Inspiration for your creative spirit
‘The Unpublished Podcast’ focuses on writers, as well as creativity and creators of all kinds. Listen here. I also love their Instagram.
Please join me in supporting the WGA and SAG-AFTRA.
More than ever, we need to have each other’s backs around the value of our creativity. In a world fueled by capitalist games, even one person’s creativity and gifts being devalued affects us all.
We have seen this with education and teachers, devalued jobs and salaries, with the value of art in our society, and now with the Writer’s Guild of America being joined by the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists in their strike for a fair contract.
Many friends and family members are either in these guilds, or will be affected and out of work during this strike. Many many more I don’t know at all will also be affected by this. The ramifications of a long term strike on many industries and workers is huge.
Please support these creative workers in their strike for a fair contract. Here’s how you can help.
