Assemblage

I have been drawn back to this assemblage piece lately, taking a closer look at how it is constructed and the elements used. It was begun during a spontaneous exercise in a Creativity Continuum session. I've noticed I often do better with a limited selection of elements and a pre-set timed period. 
 I liked it enough to continue it at home and develop a showcase display and mount it within this framework.

Not sure where this introspection will lead, but I've moved the piece into the studio and set it on my worktable for further evaluation. 
I think this is what our Facilitator, Laura, calls the "mulling phase".

positive reinforcement

Yesterday I took CUT & RUN to the monthly Creativity Continuum meeting and got good advise from the group. The photo I posted on-line is not at all accurate because I had done the “quick-fix” which added a bunch of color to it overall. I was considering an attempt at “fixing” the artwork by reworking it to more closely resemble the photo. The general consensus is they like the artwork as it is and to “unfix” the photo. Another suggestion was to try a different frame.  All good and wise recommendations.

We also looked at HE SAID TO SIMON on-line and the overall opinion for me to continue with my mixed-media, photo collage technique was very favorable.

Patty did a presentation on a famous glass artist, Tammy & Barb showed new work, and then we discussed ideas for our upcoming group exhibit. The theme for that is Alice in Wonderland.

My wish for any artist is to have a group like this.

Painted Outfit

My entry in the 3rd Annual Creativity Continuum exhibit is the result of a challenge to me by our Facilitator, Julie Rose. Her words were straight forward, “stretch yourself, do something totally different than your usual work”.

I admit I was stymied for quite a while, then one day, as I was searching through my own closet for something to wear to an upcoming event, I came across these three pieces that had hung in there for ages. The skirt I had never worn, the tops only once or twice. All three pieces were white, but there the similarity ended.

They are totally different fibers and textures so would require different medium to be permanent on all. I admit the idea, once formed needed no further consideration except to decided on the color. I covered my dress form with plastic, dressed her with all three pieces, set her out in the middle of my garage, filled my spray bottle with thinned textile paint and went to work.
Knowing when to stop is often a problem for me, I think I got it just right this time

Continuum May 2009

This group is attracting more creatives all the time. We meet the third week of the month and can attend on either the Sunday or Thursday of that week. I attended Sunday this month, which is why I'm not in any of these photos. Maybe next time I'll remember to ask someone else to catch me in action. Our creative exercise this time was to draw shadows with the aid and instruction of a partner. We decided to tape them all together into one long banner. This was really a cool exercise, DO try this at home!!! Be sure and double click for a closer look.

Creativity Contiuum video

Well, we're getting more and more techno savvy. Yesterday, I brought my camera, but forgot I had it. This interactive gives you a better sense of who and what we are. This was during our creativity exercise. Very playful and fun !!! Each month one of the members "presents" the story and work of a woman artist of their choice. Our exercise then uses that artist's style or medium as a starting point for our personal exploration. Check it out on the Creativity Continuum Blog. There are also links to the work of our artist for this month, Kara Walker.

CONTINUUM SHOW & TELL

I am a member of a Creativity group that meets monthly at TLDDesigns in Westmont, IL. The Creativity Continuum gathers the 3rd week of every month to serve as an arena for artists and creative thinkers to explore, challenge, stretch and share their creative process.

Each monthly session opens with sharing of work.

Here's my show & tell from the December meeting.

Next we have creativity warm-up exercises and then progress into creative exploration in various mediums. The main purpose of these exercises is to have fun and free up everyone’s creative energy. Julie Rose leads our group in these exercises, using visualizations, relaxation techniques, artists’ affirmations, readings and discussions.

The group also provides a forum for beginning new work, exploring artistic challenges and, if we choose, sharing the results of our efforts with the group. In addition to the monthly meetings, we schedule periodic “artist’s dates” to local art happenings and complete the yearly cycle with a gallery exhibit of member's work.

A new element this year is for one of us to give a presentation about a woman artist of our choice. In October Joy Lavrencik introduced us to Twyla Tharp. While watching the Kennedy Honours last night it was so cool to see this wonderful artist honored and have some knowlege of her background.

Above photo courtesy of Continuum member Patty Pulliam.

CREATIVITY CONTINUUM

This month our Creativity Continuum meeting at TLD Designs was a bit different. Our facilitator, Julie Rose, http://www.giarosa.com/, has moved to Taos, NM creating some new and exciting technology opportunities for our meetings. Her intention is to personally visit us on a quarterly basis and facilitate by interactive video the other months. A computer problem on her end, as it’s in the repair shop, caused her to find an alternate method last evening. Once we were all in attendance we called her and had a “conference call” as Julie phrased it, “Charlie’s Angel’s” style. That worked OK, but there was an unanticipated challenge regarding volume controls, or lack of them, on the new phone purchased just for the event. Fortunately member, Patty Pulliam, has that capability on her cell phone so we were able to proceed. I did “show & tell” with my new fiber collage, imagine, (pictured above) they all loved it. We chatted about the women artists we have been profiling the last 6 months, and then went right to the creative time segment of the meeting. Our creativity exercise was to develop a new work of art that integrates some aspect of each of these great women’s work.