influences

I could have waited and shared this image in February for Valentine’s Day. I could tell you about how I just looked up and there it was – this magnificent red leaf heart shining brightly against the blue sky.

(View full resolution – available for purchase here.)

But it really wasn’t just “there it was!” I had been predisposed to this image. Let us see how.

First, there is Laurie and her Speaking from the Heart blog. Laurie is passionate about heart connections. On her Holessence website there is an image of a beautiful heart with wings painting by Russell D’Alessio and farther down there is also a photograph I gave Laurie with a heart on the cliff wall. Needless to say whenever I think of a heart or see a heart shape, I think of Laurie.

Second, there is L. M. from someplace in the USA. I know nothing more about her, other than her tweet name is @ellepiari . If you look at her profile at http://twitter.com/ellepiari , there is a most beautiful red heart leaf avatar almost exactly like my photograph. I know L. M. for her warmth, sharing and engagement.

So you see this beautiful red heart leaf image is heavily influenced by the creative expression of others.

Sprout question: How is your creativity influenced by the creative expression of others?

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.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Blossoms for courage and abundance on International Women’s Day.

View and purchase full resolution image here.

Today, March 8, 2010 is International Women’s Day. This year a lovely man told me that he appreciated women everyday not just on March 8^th. I’m relieved this is the case. But International Women’s Day is about much more than appreciation. All the blossoms, appreciation and love in the world for women will not, by itself, effect the change necessary for women’s equality. The disparity between women and men is the motivation behind my by-donation services design for Terrill Welch – A woman behind Women. The disparity between women and men is part of my motivation for writing Mona’s Work.

Last night, for the first time, an Oscar was given to a woman film director, Kathryn Bigelow, in the 82 year history of the academy – for a war movie, which surprises people that it was directed by a woman. Need I say more? Yes?

In an interview on March 2, 2010 with Willa Paskin of Slate, Kathryn Bigelow says the following about creativity and being a woman….

“…I come from the art world, or that’s where I was creatively, aesthetically, and intellectually formed and informed.

Certainly at the time I was there, there was never a discussion of gender per se. Like, this is a woman’s sculpture or a man’s sculpture. There was never this kind of bifurcation of particular talent. It was just looked at as the piece of work. The work had to speak for itself. And that’s still how I look at any particular work.

I think of a person as a filmmaker, not a male or female filmmaker. Or I think of them as a painter, not a male or female painter. I don’t view the world like that. Yes, we’re informed by who we are, and perhaps we’re even defined by that, but yet, the work has to speak for itself.” Read the full interview here.

Do I disagree with Bigelow? No, I agree. This is the ideal we are striving for. The question is – are we there yet? Can women compete in creative fields beyond the styles and topics held in esteem by male colleagues? If they do, is their creativity then labeled as women’s art, or women’s crafts? These are thorny questions which have no easy quick answers – at least, no easy answers I have found in the twenty years I’ve been part of these discussions. Yet, today, International Women’s Day, I beg the questions for your consideration.

Sprout Question: Do you feel your gender influences your creativity?

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY to all women, and women artists! Congratulations to the men who appreciate their 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.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada