Musings on Creativity. And pianos.

Hello Visionaries!
Lately I have been plunging headfirst into the arts, with an open mind, an open heart and an open imagination. I have felt this incredible urge to create, create without limits. My time has opened up, and with that, my energy had simply multiplied! So I have been stoking the creative fire with all tastes, and all mediums, delving into writing, drawing, cooking, meditation, sewing, ceramics, and today, (I am grinning proudly as I write this) I had my first piano lesson!
Well, actually not my first. But my first of this millenium. I think probably my first since the 80s. Therefore I will count it as a capital-F First!
What brought this on? Well, aside from a love of music, I have had the pleasure of being invited to several truly astounding, seriously inspiring concerts lately. Seeing music live just fills me with so much energy... as if it emanates from the performer's voice and fingertips and floods the room. I drink in as much of it as possible, but I'm overflowing. It's as if I'm trying to take a breath of air large enough to last the rest of the day, and my lung capacity is just bursting.
I'm sure you have felt this feeling before. After hearing an incredible piece of music, seeing a moving painting or photograph, or reading something which touches your very core. What to do with all this excess creative energy? How do I utilize this frantic overwhelm of action potential?
My old strategy? Consume. Buy a CD. Buy a book. Buy an ice cream cone. Buy anything, in order to feel like I had satisfied or somehow squelched that gnawing grumble.
But my heart and my creative channels, though still in their infant stage of development, are more open than they used to be. I now realize that when life gives you lemons, you don't go for a bike ride. What I mean is, there is a way to take in beautiful work, and photosynthesize your own creative energy out of it. Julia Cameron calls it "filling the well". What it does is gives you the raw material of creativity: the spark, which energizes you, PROPELS you, to create of your own accord. This kind of raw energy can be intimidating, scary, perilous! Or if used correctly (meaning, if used, period), can be immensely productive and useful.
All that is to say, today, I made some noise on the piano. It wasn't music yet, but I made something.
I'll leave you with some inspiring images of pianos, in hopes that they might propel YOU to make something, anything.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninajeaninephotography/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vyno/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lifein2-d/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12919827@N04/

--gillian

Daily Door

It's official. I am in love with the Hipsmatic app on my iphone. And in the throes of new love, I have been draining my battery like crazy, taking pictures of pretty much everything around me. More awesome daily doors to come!

Top of the morning

Have a great day, everyone!

love,

gillian

Slow Down... it's all in the details

Tonight was one of those unexpectedly lovely nights.

My plans for the evening had fallen through and so I (only somewhat) begrudgingly decided to stay home and watch a movie: Amelie. As luck and serendipity would have it, this turned out to be precisely what I needed after a exhausting and trying week. The film's protagonist is a shy dreamer who seeks refuge from her lonliness by savoring life's little details: discarded photo booth portraits, a colorful bustling marketplace boasting its wares, the perfect skipping stone. While I'm hardly the shy type, I can relate to the meek, sweet Amelie as I also revel in life's little pleasures and surprises.

I suppose I needed a reminder that when the big picture seems too overwhelming, there can be solace, refuge, and inspiration in the details.



By the way I am loving this Japanese poster for the film. How gorgeous are the characters streaming down the center of the page?

-whitney

Found Lighting

Allow me to shine my light on the amazing work of London-based artist Stuart Haygarth. He creates astounding lighting fixtures out of found and discarded objects.

Tide, shown below was assembled out of various detritus and small translucent objects that had washed up on the shore of a particular stretch of beach in Kent, England.

Illuminating!

The Spectacle series is a tiered chandelier made of used pairs of prescription glasses.

It would be amazing to see these pieces in person; I'm sure the various translucent and colored surfaces and textures would create quite a spectacle of light.

--gillian

Kindling the flame of passion (for real books)

While the convenience of carrying your entire home library with you in one digital volume is indeed enticing, many old-school bibliophiles (myself included) are hestitant to succomb to this seduction.

Why? Well, in exchange for the convenience offered by digital readers, real, actual books contain the full-sensory experience of delving into a good novel/biography/self-help tome (hrm-hrrrm). The textured feel of the pages of a vintage dime-store paperback, the musty smell of a hand-me-down volume, the dog-eared corners that allude to the journeys of all the readers who came before you... these experiences are lost when the work is delivered via Kindle...

Tech-curious bibliophiles: all is not lost!

Long Live Books is the brainchild of a Minnesota artist who recognized that while the Kindle and other e-book devices may be here to stay, they don't have to render your future reading experiences cold, streamlined, and impersonal.

These "book" covers are handmade in his studio out of real wool felt, and offer customizable titles, such as This is not a book. So for those who have already made the leap into the future... you can take a little bit of the present (past?) with you, and reconnect to the inimitable pleasure of cuddling up with a good book.

Happy reading!

Gillian

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

I just finished watching the second episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and I am hooked!

I had no idea what a food-consciousness bubble I have been living in. Growing up in Marin County and now living in San Francisco, understanding the importance of local, fresh, seasonal food seems like second nature to us.

The segment which hit closest to home was when Jamie asked kindergartners to identify vegetables such as tomatoes, potatoes and beets and was met with blank stares. Frightening.

This show could not be anymore relevant than right now. Congress has just passed a major piece of legislation meant to "improve" the health of every American-- but with the government's somewhat dubious track record as far as keeping OUR best interests in mind, I'm not sure they ought to be trusted to solve this nation's health crisis.

Grassroots action starts in your own kitchen. With each purchasing decision we have power. If you want to see fewer processed foods in your grocery store aisles, simply don't buy them.

Hopefully the rest of the country will soon see the Light, but until then we must carry the torch.

--Whitney