Creating space for a creative headspace

After a nice break that included no presents, rushing or spending much money, I have been getting back in gear by reading some of my favourite blogs. And I feel particularly warm and fuzzy in my heart as I see the same ethos and sentiment carry through so many people’s minds: to establish better conditions to unleash creativity within themselves.

First lovely Lulu, a creative designer and facilitator beaming with positive attitude, expresses her desire for self-exploration and creation of artistic works:

I believe that by committing to spend some time educating myself about my Self, by using the act of creating to journey from question to understanding, that artistic voice within me will be unleashed. And that the most appropriate mediums of expression will naturally emerge.

Then Olivia, a creative writer and thinker, talks about creative space which she calls “Olivia’s Kitchen”:

This year is about creating conditions that will allow my work to emerge – and Olivia’s Kitchen conjures the image for me of that space. — It is my belief that we are often so focused on worrying about what we are going to do and how we are going to do it, that we actually neglect creating the space which would allow the answers to those questions to emerge naturally.

I also enjoyed reading an ebook about happiness, quality of life and work by Vehmas Assembly (available in Finnish only), in which the author Sampsa coins a nice phrase saying that we all need to “re-educate our inner monkeys”. With this he refers to our evolutionary survival instincts and the unfortunate hoarding and status craving instinct that drives many to a vicious cycle of overconsumption, overworking and unhappiness. I share the point he and many others have made: a process of kindness, love and self-awareness is needed. Channeling these things into everyday life and ways of looking at things will affect everything else, like a chain reaction. One becomes kinder to oneself and this transfers to relationships, work and quality of life.

I felt inspired by all these generous and heartfelt pieces of writing and thought I would simply share my process of creative space. It’s not finished yet and I hope it never will be as things change with the flow. And change and flow I know now to be important parts of my quality of life in general.

I have reorganised my working space at home over Christmas. I have a desk in the corner of our light and cozy living room. It is only when I got rid of lots of clutter that is not related to my creativity (if it’s related, then it’s not clutter), moved it facing the window and allocated a wall next to it for free notes and drawings that I actually feel in my bones I can finally embrace this spot as my own. I have my candle, space for a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, a crazy plant, cat per week desk calendar, origami a day calendar, pot with lots of brushes and pens and sticks, a beautiful 50s book of British birds, a shelf with more books, different drawing papers and sketch books, woollen socks to combat drafty floors and the laptop, of course.

I hope you noticed that the laptop was last on the list.

I have now begun addressing the time space issue – to comfortably enjoy spending time here even after a long day at my full time job. Time space is for me really more about the whole sphere of an issue about creative headspace. It’s more about that freedom inside my head, a simultaneous lenience and vigorous drive towards exploring and expressing myself.

The good thing is that I have a perfect project starting up at the end of January, and this project will offer me a framework to help with creative time outside normal working hours. The project involves a workshops with many other great creative people: musicians, actors, filmmakers, writers and me as a storyboard artist. It’s a dream project – I’m going to be exploring storyboarding techniques and hopefully find an interesting way of showcasing the athmospheric moods and even sensuality of a scene. It’s work but it’s firstly more fun and personally rewarding exploration, happiness.

It’s a good start for 2010, a continuity of good things. I wish you all the same.

Mix and match notebooks

Here are some fruits of the labour from a Saturday afternoon. On one of my usual wanders around the charity shops I started admiring the old hardbacks on the shelf, especially their texture and illustrations. Touching them gave me a real sense of ownership that had left its mark on the pages. I wanted to get these books but not just so that they can sit still on a shelf with their counterparts – they deserved more than that.

I started thinking about how I struggle to keep a notebook. I have several notebooks but none of them are quite… well, mine. And this is why a lot of them get lost or forgotten on table corners in my flat, only half-used. I thought these hardback books would actually be perfect to use for note/sketch book covers as they are sturdy and also because they would be customisable. This is something I’ve found lacking in notebooks too. So I gathered a pile of different types of paper into different combinations, trimmed them, added a couple of rubber bands and voilà! My own personalised notebook.

I can take out or add pages when I want to without ripping anything and even replace all of the pages if I feel like it. Now I’m actually using the book much more and feel slightly compelled to sketch on its pages. I suppose it was just about making my own creative space in the form of a book to enable creative manifestations.

Inhale, exhale, improvise

You know those conversations, the enthusiastic rants you have with interesting people, often performed over a few drinks in a pub? And the following day, the slow dawn of realisation that you have wholeheartedly agreed to take part in some project or another?

I love those conversations.

Great discussions are often initiated and accelerated by impulse and instinct. They can generate interesting creative collaborations that be simple short-lived sparks or long-lasting affairs. A couple of weeks ago I had a conversation that lead me to take part in an improvised music performance with the PAST collective as part of the May you Live in Interesting Times festival.

I used to sing a lot when I was younger, in indie bands and in plays as part of my theatre activities. Since coming to Britain I haven’t sung much and I had almost forgotten what singing really means to me and what it feels like. I came across a quote, on the Facebook page of the German Krautrockers Popol Vuh, which describes this feeling well:

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.

The singing I did for the performance was the first time I used my voice as more of an instrument amongst others. Creating rhythms, simple melodies, whispers of breathing which were looped and layered into the fabric of sound we were improvising together. It was very liberating, the improvisation, and being able to embrace the individual processes of each of the rehearsal sessions we had.

To be able to improvise is to be able to welcome uncertainty and discomfort and allow them to open up new creative pathways. With singing this approach is physical, both raw and delicate at times. This tingling exploration is to be found in other creative pursuits too, but I think it takes more practice for me to find it and apply it to them. The environment has a big impact on this  – the often hectic surroundings do not offer me the almost meditative qualities needed for a fluid and experimental mindset. So next for me it’s about practicing achieving this mindset in everyday life and creative practice and letting it run its course.

Myth vs. fact

The title of this blog post refers to posters I saw at the Harlow Town Show in September. They were displayed at the local NHS stand and grabbed my attention straight away.

I thought this was such a good example of simple messaging and design. It stops people in their tracks – we all have people with mental health problems in our circle of friends and acquaintances even if we are not aware of this.

I have a personal stance in talking openly about mental health problems after witnessing too many occasions when they have been brushed under the carpet or they have cause feelings of shame, despair or even guilt in people close to me. My stance is strong also because there is really hardly any honest publicity about raising awareness of these issues. In social situations, it’s not “appropriate” to admit to one’s weaknesses, especially if those feelings of weakness are in one’s head. Mention therapy or the thought of getting help, things get awkward.

So here it goes: I have been to therapy to see a counselor on a regular basis. No, I didn’t have a nervous breakdown nor did I have a scary sounding mental condition that would make me feel like I couldn’t cope. There are so many states of anxiety and depression that get a grip on people these days – and is it really a surprise? Having had a fairly open-minded attitude towards getting help for mental health concerns, even I found it hard to cross that threshold to contact someone to get help.

And you know, counseling is great. I think everyone should get some at times just to get a fresh look at where it’s at. It’s easy to loose sight of things in your life, whatever they may be. It’s defeatist to deny the need for an objective outside opinion, which you can’t always get from your family or friends.

Openness – it is the key to many things. I wish it could be embraced better in public – after all, we are not machines but human beings with imperfections and faults which make us all the bit better for it. Say yes to that.

Tickets please…

I’ve just finished doing some work for the brilliant artist, Matt Cook, on his Open Top Sound art event coming up in Colchester this Saturday. The work included both printed and email flyers and a bus ticket (as seen above); when boarding the bus the ticket will be rubber stamped with Matt’s logo.

Making the bus ticket made me think how much fun little bits of work like this can be, playing around with type and paying homage to the style conventions of the past. And the fun isn’t just in the work, it’s also in the process of working with the client: an evolving, sparky two-way interaction at it’s best.

So:

Open Top Sound is a sound art event that takes place – you guessed it – on top of an open top bus as it makes a journey through Colchester.

Open Top Sound is composed of field recordings, sections of ambient noise recorded around the town, combined with recorded descriptions of places in Colchester by local Blue Badge Guides. Recorded noises blend with noises from beyond the bus to create an immersive experience.

So if you are around Colchester this Saturday 10 October and want to experience a fun art event, get in touch with firstsite gallery to book a place on the bus. There are three departures during the day – and it’s free – so you can’t go wrong, really.

If you want to see more of Matt’s work, check out his website.

Them clever designers… snapshot of London Design Festival 09

Last weekend I checked out a selection of events and exhibitions on offer at the London Design Festival.

I like festivals: you are guaranteed to have a selection of visual snippets, tasty (or not so tasty) morsels. I find it rejuvenating to wander around the smaller exhibits, seeing the work of independent and up and coming designers who often have great ideas to show. And all the unexpected discoveries to be made on the way – that’s my kind of day out and about.

My colleagues from Stills went to 100% Design on Thursday, so I decided I would plan to see “all the other stuff” over the weekend. On Friday I started my trek at the Viaduct showroom in Clerkenwell. Their New Modernists exhibition struck a chord with me as I’ve always had a soft spot for simple, clean and clever design.

Lazy Bastard by Bertjan Pot

Now this chair is such a brilliant concept – the name and the product go hand in hand perfectly, and it needs to be experienced to be fully appreciated! It’s like a bean bag with a bit more structure, the adapting cushion making it a pleasure to sink into.

On chaos and balance

I have always been enthralled by mythology; weaved stories of our world and anthropomorphic characters harnessed to portray beliefs and abstract concepts.

Loki

JOKER. The arch villain of the Caped Crusader, but also the archetype: the Trickster. Legends, folklore and religious texts depict a Trickster in one form or another: Loki, the Coyote, Puck, the Fox, the Serpent…

The trickster deity breaks the rules of the gods or nature, sometimes maliciously (for example, Loki) but usually, albeit unintentionally, with ultimately positive effects.Wikipedia

New beginnings

Hi there.

I’ve finally got myself around starting a blog and share my inner musings with others. I’m excited about the whole thing, not because of making my thoughts public in particular, but because I see blog writing as a means to express myself and refine my rants. I think it’s also a little therapeutic and healthy for me as a creative professional.

So things to come include:
• On chaos and balance, fear and positive change
• Heart & Hearth – sharing, storytelling and focus
• London Design Festival – inspiration & other thought patterns

I’ll be back soon – goodbye till then.