Every flower...

How often our posts relate - in a big or small way - to the subject of inspiration, personal reasons for creativity, and/or of finding ourselves falling unsuspectingly into that darkening pool, which acts as creative quick sand.

This week I was touched by Karen's creative questioning (and, BTW, Karen has moved here) and by Arlee's quest for originality, and was also reminded of a lovely comment left in response to one of my recent posts by Anya, saying:

"It never stops to amaze me how much effort, work and knowledge goes into creating something beautiful. It is always a labore of love at the end and the final result will always reflect the amount of effort put into it. :-)".

Which is so true!

Every flower must grow through dirt.

-- Anonymous

I'm fortunate, in that, I seem to have the inner critic - that inimical voice that says " You're so stupid... that's such a dumb idea, etc." - well under control. Also, I rarely find myself without inspiration. If anything, I have too many ideas, and it takes me a while to gather these thoughts into something tangible.

Of course, it doesn't always work out the way I imagined! And I frequesntly don't end up with a "finished" piece... oh, you already noticed that ;) But, since what I most enjoy about it all is the initial design phase, the research and exploration, and learning the process of making cloth - because I have no practical experience at this, folks! - the fact that it doesn't become something in the end, doesn't matter.

Nothing we do is useless!

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars
-- Les Brown













































Recent sketchbook page: Further developing pattern ideas from my last post.

Osa... Art... Life... Advance

A pale cloth idea on the go.

I've been thinking... Oh! So that's what the noise was! ;)

A while ago, I started to think about the possibility of offering creative "retreats" here on the Osa Peninsula. And now, so many people have commented about this amazing place where I am fortunate enough to live, that I'm thinking, maybe, people would like to visit. In turn, that got me thinking about the word "retreat" itself.

retreat |riˈtrēt| verb [ intrans. ] (of an army) withdraw from enemy forces as a result of their superior power or after a defeat : the French retreated in disarray. • move back or withdraw, esp. so as to remove oneself from a difficult or uncomfortable situation : it becomes so hot that the lizards retreat into the shade | [as adj. ] ( retreating) the sound of retreating footsteps. • withdraw to a quiet or secluded place : after the funeral he retreated to the shore.

Thinking about it from the perspective of visiting another place and kindling/fueling/firing one's creativity, in a fluid way, it suddenly seems like such a wierd word to use! What I have in mind is more about throwing oneself headlong into life... so, less of a retreat... and more of an advance! Not some kind of pre-planned course, with a teacher. Just one or two people at a time, immersing themselves in all that the Osa Peninsula has to offer.

I'm putting out feelers.

Just imagine it... 7-10 days of self-indulgement, creativity, exploring a tropical paradise! Painting, sketching, writting, needlework... or whatever is your thing. I'm trying to think about places to go, that would be inspirational, (yeah... that's not hard here!) and how to keep the costs down. I reckon it might be possible to organize something amazing.

Any one got any ideas or observations? I am just trying to gather some ideas for what might be possible. And I'd love to hear your thoughts!