Pulse

February 12, 2010February 12, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 20 Comments

So close to Valentine’s Day, with hearts appearing everywhere, I offer you a view of one of my watercolour paintings from 2001. Today, I’m reading and collecting creative inspiration. I’m reading through blogs on my blog roll. I’m browsing through blogs in my Gaia community. I am picking up pebbles in my tweet stream on Twitter. Today is about me experiencing the pulse of your creativity…

At the heart of things we are all simply human.

View and purchase full resolution image here.

Sprout Question: If your creativity had a pulse, what would be the rhythm of its beat?

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

Everyday objects

February 11, 2010February 11, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 14 Comments

Our creative journeys are journeys shared with other creative human-beings. Even if we tend to be reclusive, their presence is with us in our homes, in our everyday objects. A sensual blue image combined with a thought-provoking article Epreuve 05 :: Epreuve d’Artiste :: Altered States by Ian Talbot of London UK, inspired my still life sketch this morning of an everyday object. Thank you Ian.

8″x11″ graphite quick sketch

As I was standing at the counter doing my “awakener” sketch of our medium-sized Bialetti stovetop (Yes it has the little man on it but it is on the other side – I’m left handed. Handles are always on the opposite side of what one usually expects.) I started thinking more about Ian’s article and how I often overlook the creativity and artistic qualities of my favoured everyday objects. Yet, aesthetics and wabi-sabi charm generally influences my choice in the first instance when acquiring the object. Why is it that the creative care embodied in the stovetop coffee maker doesn’t leap out at me before my fingers can grip its black handle? I adore my coffee ritual with a zest that not much else can compete – particularly at 6:00 am. I can see its every detail with my eyes half closed. Well, that is mostly how I see it so that isn’t much of a revelation. However, I think you get the idea….

Though living is often a messy process, simplicity and functionality attract my sense of a world-as-should-be. This simplicity can be in everyday object or in everyday nature as in the image below.

View and purchase full resolution image of “amazement” here.

Sprout Question: When was the last time you recognized the creativity in everyday objects?

p.s. I was interviewed this past week by Stephan Weidner COO of Noomii for coaching blog article “Dealing with your Spouse’s Stroke: Terrill Welch’s Coaching Journey” The interview provides a concise account of how Creative Potager came to be.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

Possible

February 10, 2010February 10, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 14 Comments

Creative possibility comes from getting it wrong.

Studio mess – my home – time to de-clutter. 8’X11″ charcoal quick sketch.

“Oh, I could never draw or paint like that.”

“I’m not a writer like you.”

“My photographs don’t compare to yours.”

If I had a dime for each time I heard these comments or others like them, all of my creative work could be used for charity fundraising because I would be independently wealthy. The sad thing is these statements are not true. They are lies we come to believe because we compare our attempts with finished products rather than the process that lead to their creation.

Here is a best kept secret: creative excellence comes from getting things wrong. Yes, wrong. As I commented on Coffee Messiah’s blog this morning, one of my drawing teachers, Glenn Howarth, was fond of saying things like: “It is the shoulder or wrist you struggle to draw that teaches you the anatomy of an arm.”

This is why I have committed to showing you my first morning “awakener” sketch. These first sketches are to engage me in the creative process. My sleepy eyes begin to frame, compose and dig at the relationship between elements I am about to sketch. My stiff arm and hand begin to respond to these relationships. In these first sketches, few mental barriers about “getting it right” have been erected. My judgment is left aside – these are not “keepers” they are “awakeners.”

In a three-hour drawing class, I often do 30 quick sketches that progressively increase in length until it is time to settle into the last hour-long sketch. When I am doing a photo shoot, I may take 150 images with maybe three becoming “keepers.”

Hours and days of exploring “that which is not yet quite right” leads to the creative possibility for success. This is where we discover our unique creative expression. This is where we learn our craft. We learn what is possible by getting it wrong.

My first quick sketch of the day is to inspire you to say to yourself – “hey, I can do that!” And you can.

Here is the last of my chosen three out of 150 shots of mist…

View and purchase full resolution image here.

Sprout Question: What do you do to strengthen your creative possibility?

p.s. Glenn Howarth was the most outstanding art instructor I have had the pleasure of working under. I am forever grateful for the few short years I was in his figure drawing classes. Glenn Howarth died last year at the age of 62. Very little of his thinking and work is on-line but here is an article he wrote that was published in Canadian Art and Art Resource Directory: “Pictophile – Plein Air Painting”

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

What Is

February 9, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 20 Comments

Today I woke with a feeling of being surrounded by sludge as thick and slimy as yesterday’s latte left on the counter over night. I’m on day five of my recovery from a common head cold – well enough to be grumpy and think I “should be doing things” when all I really want to do is be a caterpillar – munching and moving slowly from one comfortable place to another.

Long-time “tweet friend,” massage therapist and intrinsic coach Fred Krazeise, from Washington D.C., reminded me “Just let the day come to you Terrill!” With only a little resistance, I have. What is “is.” Or…. it is what it is. Sounds simple but I have spent much of my life resisting the sludge when it wraps around me. I tend to want to fight back as it feels like giving up or giving in. Yet, I know the harder I fight the tighter the sludge holds me. So I am going to follow Fred’s gentle advice. I’m letting the day come to me.

Here is this morning’s sketch of our window seat looking east into the side yard where the Tibetan flags hang on the six feet tall deer fence.

8″x11″ artist waterproof Indian ink quick sketch

And here is another photo from Sunday’s photo shoot in the mist….

View and purchase full resolution image here.

May you enjoy and embrace what is – even the slimy sludge days.

Sprout Question: What do you do on you slimy sludge days?

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

Garbage

February 8, 2010February 8, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 16 Comments

As I open the window a crack to hear this mornings song birds, I can imagine you are wondering why garbage would be part of a blog about creativity that is focusing on the theme of “home” for the month of February. I’d say that is a reasonable query. When I returned our rented movies to the gas station yesterday I paid cash (as the money is put in a separate envelope for the garbage collector) for a $7.00 tag to be placed on one, not too big and not too heavy bag of garbage.

This morning I tied off our one bag of garbage that we accumulate every three to four weeks and carried up to the main intersection to be picked up and then hauled off our island.

We live down the hill and around the corner of the road on the right.

It is a ritual I love. Being good islanders, we compost, regift, recycle, reuse, reduce and refuse with gusto. But there is always that little bit left that no one wants or can seem to find a use. This remaining refuge becomes our bag of garbage. Our creating, cleaning and clearing of our home has us frequently contemplating environmental practices which then brings us to examining what decisions we make earlier the acquiring and creating process.

My digital camera is a step in the direction of “reduce” by only printing the best while also being able to make these images available for viewing by many. Most recently, my creativity has been influenced by the “refuse” part of the environmental practices equation. I purchased a set of water miscible oil paints because I could use my same brushes and canvases but didn’t need to use any toxic solvents nor would there be the same use of materials in framing as with my watercolour paintings. In my creative process, I’m refusing to use as many toxic materials as possible and limiting the use of materials needed to create my finished products.

A frequent responder to sprout questions and full-time artist Tobin Eckian from Newburyport, MA takes the creative environmental practice even a step further into an area she calls “upcycle” in her use of cardboard in her art. Tobin’s blog and Etsy shop delight and inspire me with her creative “upcycle” art.

And just so you don’t think my weekend was all about garbage, here is an image from Sunday afternoon’s photo shoot…

View and purchase full resolution image here.

Sprout Question: How do environmental practices influence your creativity?

p.s. thank you for reading, participating and sharing Creative Potager. This is the 31st post since December 27, 2009 and because of you, there has been 246 comments and over 2000 views.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

Solitude

February 5, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 12 Comments

Home is my place of solitude and sanctuary. There needs to be an easy transition from outside/inside living. We have almost the same amount of covered deck space as we do inside space with fir trees providing the boundary of our daily living rather than the walls of our home. To flourish my creativity needs extended amounts of time with just me – in solitude, daily. For me, this kind of outside/inside space is the most inspiring solitude.

Usually my time for solitude is early morning just before daybreak. I like to rise before I sense that the rest of my world has stirred.

Quick 8”X11” sketch with artist pens and watercolour wash of bench on our front deck where we can sit and look over the valley.

Sprout Question: How does solitude influence your creativity?

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

Attachment

February 4, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 10 Comments

A house full of stuff is not just about my reluctance to spend my time cleaning and clearing. It is about letting go of attachments. This doll and cradle are a perfect example. The cradle was made with hand tools by my great grandfather for my mother as a birthday gift when she was a little girl. My mother is now 72 years old. My grandmother gave me the cradle when I was young to “take care of.”

today’s sketch 11″x14″ artist colour pencils “Doll and Cradle”

I wasn’t a doll girl so didn’t have a doll to put in the cradle until I received a Katie, with her gorgeous ceramic hand-painted face and beanbag weighted body. She feels real when you pick her up.

I was 35 years old when Katie came into my life. I had wanted another baby but that was neither possible nor practical. My partner at the time presented me with Katie. A large, rough and burly logger, he had gone to a doll show and had a couple of elderly women help him pick out Katie and choose a set of cloths for her.

The doll and cradle has always had room my home because of these attachments. Someday I may need to find a new home for them – but not today.

Sprout Question: How does attachment influence your creativity? (your home, your subject choice)

p.s. I have lots of children in my life. I have two birth children and six step-children plus two grandchildren. The burly logger is now working in the oil fields and is a life-long friend from my childhood.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

Winter Studio

February 3, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 20 Comments

Quick sketch of trees as seen from studio window.

For the month of February, the Creative Every Day challenge theme is “home.” Leah does an outstanding job of hosting creative development. I decided for this month the theme was perfect for Creative Potager and I’m going to play along. The reason it is perfect is because I have too much stuff. My home is ruling me with its perpetual care and clutter. Yet, if I wait to draw, or paint or take photographs until it is the slim Zen-like space I desire my creativity will come to a standstill for far too long.

Here is my plan: The theme will be “home” in some form or another while I create, clean and clear everyday for the month of February.

During the winter, I have my studio in the main house as the studio building is not insulated. This year in particular it has been important that I was in the house. I may not even move my working studio back to the other building in the spring but keeping it as a display store instead.

As you can see, my winter studio space is small but with a good-sized east facing window which I like because I am a morning person. However, even at 8:00am this morning I needed to use back lighting to be able to show you this space.

I like that I can see down into the rest of the house from my desk.

I am doing a morning sketch every morning Monday to Friday for February. These are not keepers they are awakeners (my made up word).

These quick sketches are to awaken my creative brain to thinking about light, space, and composition.

There will be no excuses – if a morning sketch means putting my art apron over my nightgown and slipper clad feet – so be it!

May your home be a space that inspires your creativity.

Sprout Question: Have you noticed if the physical space of your home impacts your creativity?

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

Fast Water part 2

February 2, 2010February 2, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 6 Comments

Yesterday, I shared the first part of my weekend hike along the Cowichan River near Skutz Falls. Today’s photo journal entry focuses on building and using stretchers in the wilderness. I hope you enjoy this creative adventure that is also an applied survival skill.

First, let’s take a look up river. While I am taking this photo one of the coaches is explaining that next term if the students choose they will jump in up river (with life jackets and helmets of course) and be rescued just below the bridge we are standing on at the moment. They don’t have to go in but it is a prerequisite for learning to whitewater kayak.

The senior students met us at the bridge and lead us back down the river on the north side to where they had made stretchers by cutting poles and stringing them with coats, backpacks and one with a tarp. There was also stretcher made with webbed rope made and a foam sheet used in kayaking – this showed what could be used when sea kayaking and poles may not be readily available.

Everyone formed teams and the senior students lead the groups through a series of off trail maneuvers as directed by the coaches.

Down the trail they come…

Stopping to check on how the patient is doing (a very vulnerable ride)

It’s getting dark and I have to use my flash as they go through the brush…

And on the home stretch(er)

Creativity is related to much more than the arts. Creativity is the product of our ability to imagine. Our imagination allows us to find connections and ways of doing things that we have never seen or experienced before. I can tell by the smiles of these students, as they take on what is actually a difficult task to carry someone through the brush on a homemade stretcher, they are creative beings and loving it – lucky them and lucky us. I feel very privileged to have been able to share their company for this one afternoon on the Cowichan River.

Sprout Question: Have you ever had to use your creativity to save your life or save someone else?

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

Fast Water part 1

February 1, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 13 Comments

Over the weekend I had the most extraordinary opportunity. I was invited to go with a group of 13 to 18 year old students and two coaches for an outdoor pursuit hike along the Cowichan River near Skutz falls on Vancouver Island. These students are amazing and I absolutely enjoyed the pleasure of their company and the opportunity to be their guest.

The Cowichan River is fast and high this time of year.

There is little time to capture its beauty because I am keeping pace with these young bodies as they leap and skip along up the south side of the trail heading west. They are quiet, talking softly in small groups as they walk single file with the river glimpsed through the trees and over the steep edge of the narrow trail. I sense a relaxed intrigue rather than boisterous, frenetic, silliness I might have anticipated. For some, this is their first semester of outdoor pursuits. They may have spent very little time before today walking on the earth’s soft uneven surface. Through the soft steady rain, low cloud coverage and mist we walk together – as if we have been doing it for years.

A smaller group of older students had separated from us before we crossed the first bridge and gone up the north side trail to practice making stretchers. They will lead teams in stretcher exercises when we meet up with them later on our return. I will cover this in more detail tomorrow.

There are protected groves of Gary Oak in the park where we are hiking. My daughter, Ms. Herman, is one of the two coaches. She waits while I grab a couple of quick photos (with no idea that the camera is pointed in her direction).

We move swiftly to catch up to the rest who are gathered for a lesson on the river bank.

I snap a couple of river shots and totally miss what this particular lesson was about. Sorry Mr. Norman.

View image in full resolution and purchase here.

Next I see a series of switchbacks in front of us. A hill – this is where the 15 year olds are separated from the 51 year olds. I am thrilled to reach the top still being able to talk and not having had to stop and rest part way up. The view was worth it.

View image in full resolution and purchase here.

It is a perfect spot to give a quick lesson on using a compass. The students learn how to gather all the information they already know and begin to locate themselves on a map and learn how to read and set a compass direction.