Go small

What if you had to limit your creative project to a fraction of the normal size? I found this to be very interesting when I decided to do some “macro” photography over the holidays. Macro photography requires you to get very up close and personal with your subject because you take a shot of a tiny fraction of what you might normally take. I have an example of this in my PIC-OF-THE-WEEK below.

But does this transfer to other forms of art? If you compose songs try writing a jingle. If you paint still life maybe you could paint a small section of the subject. If you write short stories try writing copy for an ad or a 140 character tweet. If you sew clothes try sewing a blouse for a doll.

The point is to give yourself artificial constraints that force you to look at things differently than you would have otherwise. New perspective: new creativity.

PIC-OF-THE-WEEK

I always look forward to this guy’s appearance at our house. He always shows up at Christmas time.

 

God creates... you create

A miniscule sampling of God's unbelievable creativity...

Now go create...

PIC-OF-THE-WEEK

A still shot of our dining room table at Christmas time.

Cover bands don’t change the world

I’ve played with different bands throughout my life and that statement is a very challenging truth when you see it play out in reality. The last band I played with – soundoctrine - did mostly original music which was dubbed: “alternativejazzfunkfusion”.  However, we would always sprinkle cover tunes throughout the show because it would engage the audience with something familiar. I see the same thing in theater as well. I love to produce original shows, but people always pack out a show like “A Christmas Carol” even though they know exactly who the characters are and how it’s going to play out.

So there’s a paradox with art. Familiarity is safe, originality is risky. But, remember the Beetles didn’t start off covering themselves. Their music was totally unfamiliar and obscure, but they played it again and again and again and again and at some point it became familiar.

So if you’re called to imitate, then do it well – there’s nothing wrong with that. On the other hand, if you have unique ideas for your art, go for it. Who knows – maybe someday people will “cover” you…

PIC-OF-THE-WEEK

"Remmington" looking through the front window anxiously waiting for his family to return.