Tag: creativity

Creativity: Pandemic Impact

Creativity: Pandemic Impact

by ehueston ♥ 2 Comments

As promised, I am back with some more posts for my Creativity series. I didn’t realize how long it had been, sorry everyone.

I just finished compiling all of my notes from Adobe MAX and there is a lot to say. Before I get back into the who, what, how of all of this, I wanted to touch on something that hovered over MAX (and everything else lately), and what its impact has been on different levels of creativity. You know what it is… this pandemic. I have tried to keep this off of here for the most part, just to keep it light and airy. There were too many notes and discussions on the topic as it related to creativity though, and I couldn’t ignore it. Let’s rip off the band-aid, virtually hold hands, and get through this together.

It seems like all of the speakers were asked about their reaction to COVID-19 and the impact that it has had on their creativity. As you would expect, everyone had a different answer. Here’s a few of the answers that I saw:

“Stillness fed my imagination and creativity.”

A lot of artists talked about how their first reaction to the pandemic was that it was going to hinder their processes. Gwyneth Paltrow talked about how she was used to getting her ideas by being out in the world with people. How do I do that now? But she talked about how, sitting at home, in more of a stillness, she was able to really tap in to where her creativity really came from, allowing her to fuel it in different ways than she could before.

Ana DuVernay provided the quote above, that the stillness really pushed her creativity forward. The speakers talked about how, with less “noise” they were able to create in new ways that they never found possible before.

Personally, I have embraced the slower pace. Without a commute, or after work gym classes to run to, I have more time to get things done in a day. With less stress in my day-to-day, I am able to focus my mind on more creative ideas, digest them a bit, and actually act on them. I am not too tired at the end of the day to let some of this happen and I couldn’t be more grateful.

People talk about connecting with the things that matter the most. COVID-19 has forced us to stop. Take a minute. Look at what is really important to us. What really matters to you? What really fuels you? This connection will cause your creativity to grow.

“Creativity is fed through times of constraint.”

Many of the speakers opted to see this unique moment in time as a great opportunity, which I tend to agree with. The shift to ‘work from home’, and to more access to online services, has opened so many doors when it comes to communication and collaboration. Leslie Park mentioned that “we are more interconnected than we have ever been, which is good and bad.” She’s not wrong. There’s always a Jekyll and Hyde in anything like this, but the opportunities in education, communication and collaboration are really hard to ignore.

Neville Brody said that the doors opened by remote work has allowed for more international members to be brought into work projects. Teams are no longer limited by geographical proximity. The online world has been forced open in a way that we have not seen before, opening up to endless, international, and diverse opportunities that can create endless possibilities. As Rishi Magia put it, “work from home is creating inspiration rather than acting as a barrier.”

One of the first benefits I noticed, and hope will develop further, is the opportunity when it comes to education. Online learning could be life changing for some people. An international student could take the program of their choice in a different country if they are not limited by the cost of the move. Experts can take part in the educational process in all parts of the world without limitations of flight times and busy schedules. I have already been able to attend multiple education sessions in different provinces and countries that I wouldn’t have had opportunity for otherwise. Opening these doors really removes limitations on all people in so many ways. A wider access to educational opportunities can lead to amazing things. I really do hope that these benefits are seen and expanded upon.

These new possibilities have really given us so many new ways to create, learn, and communicate, changing the ways that we express ourselves and share our ideas with one another.

An opportunity for you.

When asked what advice they would give to the people out in the world, sitting at home, a lot of the speakers had similar answers.

“Do the things you want to do, not what you have to do. This is the time”

– Dan Stiles

“Take the time you’d spend on things you can’t do anymore to do something you’ve always wanted to do or get back to.”

– Sal Khan, Mala Sharma

“What can I only make in this time? I am grateful to be able to do this work in this time.”

– Miranda July

“This is an opportunity to find new creative outlets.”

– Naomie Harris

Almost every speaker talked about a new form of creativity that they turned to as an outlet. Some revisited old passions, others tried new ones. Personally, I have been dusting off my paints and markers, and find huge comfort in what they have to offer.

I don’t think that there is one person out there that hasn’t said “I wish I had the time to…”, or “I wish I was able to…”. This is the time. If there’s something you want to try, revisit, learn, experience, this is our chance. Now. Everyone is turning to social media to show what they are doing, how they are learning, and what they find works for them while they keep busy through this madness. The information is out there, it’s a matter of finding what works best for you.

Be gentle with yourself, don’t push too hard. You don’t have to be productive through all of this. I just find creating in any way, shape, or form, to be a wonderful outlet for my stress, overthinking and anxieties. There are so many things out there for everyone.

Now, I am fully aware that everyone has a different opportunity, life situation, and response throughout all of this. Not everything is as easy as it’s all written down. What I am getting at here, hopefully, is that, if there is a chance for you to see any opportunity in the world of 2020, I encourage you do it. It’s a tough world out there, and it is really easy to let it beat us down. But if we are able to see a tiny success in a day, see a tiny window to try something new, or help someone else to see an opportunity, then it won’t be able to beat us out entirely.

As David Tennant put it, “Creativity finds a way.”

Busy October Update

Busy October Update

by ehueston ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Wow! October just flew by. It has been a very busy, creative month. To start, I filled everyday with the Inktober prompts, and it has been so much fun. As we are not done quite yet I am going to save that update for next week.

Another highlight of the month came last week. I was able to attend Adobe MAX for the first time. It was free and virtual, so something a little different than the normal event run, but I was able to take some time last week and “attend” as many sessions as I could. They were amazing! I took the time to fill up all my creative tanks, I filled my huge colour notebook, and I am filled with a creative energy that I have not had in a long time. Most of the sessions that I attended were the celebrity ones, due to interest on my end, but because those sessions were not going to be available later. I heard creative inspiration from individuals such as: Annie Leibovitz, Mark Seliger, Naomie Harris, Wes Anderson, Awkwafina, Common, Taika Waititi, Ai Wei Wei, and Stefan Sagmeister. I was also introduced to so many new artists to follow: Magdiel Lopez, Anthony Jones, Lauren Hom, Octavia Bromell, Annie Atkins, and Anna Daviscourt. There’s a whole notebook full of more names but these were a few that stuck out.

The inspiration that came out of these sessions is almost overwhelming. I have always been interested in seeing the process that different artists go through, it helps me to better understand how they think. Getting an insight into the creative process behind the creative minds that have inspired me throughout my career was invaluable. It really shows how similar and simultaneously completely different we all are in our processes. Where does the inspiration come from? When is research a good idea, and when is it bad? Why do you do the work that you do? How do you use the tools, and then completely push them to their limits?

I have been taking some time since the live broadcast to catch up on some of the other classes and artist discussions. There is so much content available!

I could go on and on and on and on and on about this. But I am going to save it for now. I promised you lovely readers that there would be more Creative posts coming, and they are. Once I discovered that Creativity For All was the main theme for MAX, I decided to wait while I gathered all of my new material. There is more coming, I promise.

I really get a lot out of events like this, Adobe MAX, TIFF, Animation Film Festival, etc. Gatherings of people with some sort of connection, talking about things they are passionate about, and sharing their ideas. I always come out on the other side full of energy. This time it is creative energy and I can’t get the ideas down fast enough. There’s lots still to come here readers, don’t give up on me yet!

Happy Hallowe’en!

Painting in the Sunshine

Painting in the Sunshine

by ehueston ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

While on my social media adventures a couple weeks back, I saw a video that inspired me. It was a really fun painting style that I knew I could recreate with the supplies I had. In the coming days I was going to be seeing some family, so we opted to do this together that weekend!

This turned out to be so much fun. I brought as many different supplies as I thought we could potentially need and we ran the experiment.

Bimg_4969asically you’re creating a stencil with masking tape. You’ll want to be sure that the tape is sticky enough to prevent bleeding, but not so sticky that it will damage the painting surface. Once you have your stencil placed on your surface, you start filling the spaces with all kinds of colours!

I chose to do a couple flowers with a dragonfly, while my sister opted for birds. I used mainly acrylic paint for the base, then topped it off with some fabric pains for the accent touches. My sister also worked in acrylic, but used my watercolour sprays to really pull all of her colours together. The final effect was wicked!

Wimg_4970e first thought that we should let the paint dry before pulling off the stencil. Luckily both of us corrected ourselves before the paint was fully dry. For those who don’t use acrylic paints, they dry as a plastic, and they can’t be revived like a watercolour can. They are plastic forever haha. So pulling the stencils off when it was fully dry would have pulled all of the paint off of the main surface. Unfortunately, this did happen to a few of my flower petals, but it worked out as a nice design element, so we’re ok. This is just a good reminder for next time.

I am so happy with how these came out, especially considering this was a full on experiment the whole time. It’s fun to try a few new techniques and to get your hands dirty. I am at my most me when my hands are covered in paint. I can’t wait to give it a try again.

Creativity: Part 2

Creativity: Part 2

by ehueston ♥ 3 Comments

It’s Easy for You to Say…

OK, OK, OK!

My last post on this topic suggested that everyone is creative. Whenever I am the one to mention something like this in discussion I usually get the same line… “It’s easy for you to say, you went to school for this and are naturally creative”. Face palm guys! Real face palm!

I will be the first one to tell you that the path taken to get me where I am now was anything but easy. It was full of hard work, rejection, persistence against that rejection, individuals wasting my time, research, research, research, and many, many more challenges. (It wasn’t all bad, I’ll get into it another day, I’m making a point lol)

My most visible form of creativity does fall under the more obvious forms, yes. However, Read more ›

Creativity: Part 1

Creativity: Part 1

by ehueston ♥ 1 Comment

We are all Creative!

I have had some really interesting conversations over the past year about “creativity”. These discussions have been with people who are in all walks of life, some discussions were productive, others a little less so, but interesting none-the-less. Most people credit this quality to those who are “artsy”. This makes sense. This word is most often applied to paintings, song lyrics, and designers. But this tiny part of the universe is not the only place where it resides.

Mind blowing moment team. WE ARE ALL CREATIVE!

Maybe not in the most obvious sense, but if you really sit to think about it we are all making creative decisions at any moment in your day.

Example: I get up and get ready to go out. Boring, no creativity here right? WRONG!

  • I got up, my did my makeup, chose my outfit, applied my many jewels for the day, chose my shoes, picked out a bag, grabbed my keys and went out.
    Like most people, I don’t have one brand in my house, which means that I am combining different brands, styles, colours, that were not tailored specifically for me.
  • The designers at Cover Girl didn’t think that I would combine their eye shadow with my Forked River t-shirt.
  • The BC designer who made my earrings did not for one second think about me wearing them in combination with my one of a kind spoon rings from an artist in Northern Ontario.
  • The sales person at DSW did not even think that the shoes I bought at their store would be worn with a purse from Thirty-One that was designed two years later.
  • By putting all of these together, I have had a unique thought and put this entire outfit together all by myself. Therefore, I was creative!

I know that all of these different worlds, fashion, beauty, etc., all revolve around these kinds of setups but my statement still works.

The Britannica definition of “Creativity” is the ability to make or otherwise bring into existence something new, whether a new solution to a problem, a new method or device, or a new artistic object or form.

There are so many different ways that this can come about in your day. In your daily planning, your cooking, your work, your commute, your music choice, everything!

I have a lot of thoughts about creativity, so I will be making this a series of posts. Just remember you might not be “artsy” or “artistic”, but everyone is creative. Hell, everyone’s artsy too, just in different ways. This is a compliment people…

When Motivation/Inspiration Falls Flat

When Motivation/Inspiration Falls Flat

by ehueston ♥ 2 Comments

Ok, this is a real one guys, but something that has to get out. May hasn’t been a very productive month for me for the past few years. I have a hunch as to why…

What do you do when your inspiration/motivation to create fall flat? What do you do when you can’t use your outlet as an outlet?

This happened to me. The sudden and completely unexpected loss of a friend four years ago blanked all of my creative senses. My friend was very creative and hands on, and doing these things made me think of her and all that was lost. My brain was fried, my attention span was non-existent. How can I sit down and get into my zone on a sketch if I can’t sit still for more than 10 minutes? How can you do something that always makes you feel better, if you can’t focus enough to do it? What do you do when your mental, creative, and inspirational outlet has hidden away while you deal with all of this?

If you look at my sketchbooks around this time, they go from sketches and fancy lettering almost everyday, to just plain writing. Very few artsy touches, almost no sketches or found ideas. Mostly notes about how I can’t get back on track, how I can’t think straight and how things are so much harder than they used to be. I couldn’t do it, I didn’t have the power or the motivation. Even reading was hard, ugh! It was a very frustrating time.

So what do you do? Honestly, looking back, it wasn’t one conscious decision, but a pile of tiny steps. I did what I could to keep what “normal” things I could control “normal”. I went to the gym to burn off the anxiety (thank you Elsa!), I went to be with friends who were hurting too, and I LISTENED to what I needed. Oddly enough, not something I had tried very often. If I didn’t want to read what I was reading, I didn’t, on to something lighter. If I didn’t want to paint the Sistine Chapel, I didn’t, on to something more my pace. If I didn’t want to watch something serious on TV, I didn’t, bring on Preacher (seriously, without being in that spot in my life I might not have tried it).

As for the creative side? Getting pen/pencil/marker to paper IS my happy place. When I couldn’t create from my brain I found other ways when I was ready. Paint by Numbers and colouring books are the beeeeeeeest! I was able to get all of the colours out, without the strain of too much stressful decision making. Bit by bit, these were able to provide what I needed to get back to a little more sketching.

When I was able to open up to new possibilities, I looked for other ways to keep my hands busy and creating for any time that my other options wouldn’t pull through. Enter knitting. This hobby really helped, I could zone in, if I kept it simple it would let me zone out too. I would be moving while resting my body, basically creative fidgeting. It was something new that satisfied, in part, some of what I was missing.

I am still not back 100% due to the loss of an uncle I was close to, life events in between and being out of practice. It’s an ongoing effort, there’s good days, steps backwards, improvements, but keeping up with listening to what I need is really helping (just need to maintain). Bringing “the zone” back is something that I have been working towards actively and view as an ongoing maintenance effort. It’ll get there.

Now, very important! I am NOT a doctor. This is a sound bite of what I’ve done for myself since this insane chapter of my life story, so please don’t use my advice as any sort of medical prescription. If you do need assistance, my biggest advice is to find someone UNBIASED to talk to. I did it (huge step for me, I don’t ask for help), and it was extremely helpful, and these ladies were able to help me put names to emotions I have felt my whole life but were super aggravated by these situations. Friends and family are the best, but the unbiased opinion of someone who doesn’t HAVE to say anything specific to you is wonderful too!

Keep Those Hands Busy

Keep Those Hands Busy

by ehueston ♥ 1 Comment

Originally, I didn’t want to send anything out related to the COVID-19 crisis. I didn’t want more things for people to read through about all of this, but it is looking like we might be in this for a while so I am going to send this out anyway. There’s no COVID-19 advice in here. Please be watching your local Health Units, the WHO website, and your government for all of that most up to date information. Wash your hands people!

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My post is more on the social distancing part of things. I had a thought the other day as things were starting to close down and people were being asked to stay at home. That thought was “thank goodness I have a creative mindset”. I have piles of books, art projects, knitting supplies, puzzles, movies and shows that I can use to keep busy for a while (it’s like I have been preparing for this on some level). I am more than capable of entertaining myself for a good long time. Don’t get me wrong, the lack of gym classes is going to play on the psyche, but I can feed my mind and that’s still a good thing.

Immediately after that thought, my mind goes to those who rely on human interaction and more active activities to get through the day. So here are a few ideas on how to keep busy while we are all a little more isolated than we are used to. This is mostly a list of what I plan to attempt anyway…

  • Spring clean: I don’t know about you, but I have been putting a few household things off lately. “After the holidays”, “after my trip”, things like that. Now’s the time. On the weekend I tackled little things like the top closet shelf and organizing my knitting tools that I said I’d “put away later”. These tiny victories were super satisfying and didn’t take all day. I felt productive in part of my day and felt no guilt when I say down with my book later on.
  • Puzzles: I didn’t put one out over the holidays because I was so busy, but now’s a good time. They are great for the mind, something you can do with your small gathering group or on your own.
  • Long planned projects: I am going to be putting out my easel and canvases this week so that I can get to my ever accumulating list of projects “I’ll get to eventually”. I will be getting everything set up around my apartment so that I have everything ready to go (posts to follow).
  • Reading: I have the largest reading list ever! I have to start working that down, here’s some guilt free time to do that.
  • Colouring Books: Always a great way to pass the time and you don’t need a pile of supplies. Great to do while watching TV or listen to a record.
  • Netflix shows/movies: We all have that built up Watchlist.
  • FaceTime: We can still be in touch with people while this is going on. Use FaceTime (or your equivalent) and check in on your friends and family while they stay at home. I have also seen a lot of online classes and groups coming through using Facebook Live, or by sending out and posting videos. We can still all hangout together!

So don’t let yourselves go stir crazy. We can all get through this. This is the time that we have always been looking for with no stores to shop in, no events to go to, you get to stay at home with your families. So try to use this time to do things that you want to do, that make you feel fulfilled and productive, that help to keep your mind off of all that is surrounding us in the world while staying safe. If we work together we can definitely get through this thing.

How are you keeping busy through it all?