Creative Plant Life

When you are new to a place, everything seems different. After a year, you don’t notice the very things that startled you so much in the beginning. Here are some things I may not notice in a year, but this year, I thought, “You’d never see anything like this in the East.”

The bougainvillea are so saturated in color that when you see them against a blue sky, it seems that somebody is messing with Photoshop. But it’s not. The plants and sky are exactly this color.

Then there are trees covered in glossy green leaves and studded with bright oranges. There are also lemons and grapefruit, named because they hang in clusters, like giant grapes. But the contrast between the green shiny leaves and orange fruit is wonderful to enjoy.

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*Palm trees are a great source of wonder for the newcomer. They need to be trimmed , and this must be the season to do it. After a trim, they look like they all have the palm-tree version of a faux-hawk.

But they do get bushy again. And when they are full and bushy, and it gets to be time to decorate the trees for the holidays, they put lights in them.

No confusing them with “O Tannenbaum!” but they are a sight to behold. At first I thought the lights were on stands, but nope, these are the real trees with palm lights. Not only are the trunks wrapped
in two shades of lights, but the center vein of each palm frond is striped in green lights.

Luminarias are favorites of mine. Originally, they were paper bags with a sovelful of sand in the bottom. A candle is stuck in the sand and lit, creating a warm glow. Now many of them are plastic instead of paper, or at least fire-retardant paper. In this case, almost two miles of them are placed and lit in the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. I was lucky enough to see how they extinguish them at the end of the evening. Volunteers holding 4-foot long devices that look like turkey basters come along, put the pointy end in the bag and squeeze the bulb on top. It blows out the candle.

–Quinn McDonald is a writer and speaker. See her work at QuinnCreative.com (c) All images and words, Quinn McDonald, 2007. All rights reserved. All photos taken with an iPhone.

Creativity at Play

Sure, studying creativity is important. But playing is even more important. Johnathan Feinstein does both, but you will enjoy noodling with his geometric elements to make abstract collages with your keyboard.

Read a lot? Make a multi-strand bookmark to keep track of all the parts of a book you love.

“Illustration Friday is a weekly creative outlet/participatory art exhibit for illustrators and artists of all skill levels. It was designed to challenge participants creatively. We believe that every person has a little creative bone in their body. Illustration Friday just gives a no-pressure, fun excuse to use it. It’s a chance to experiment and explore and play with visual art. So welcome, novices and pros alike” –From the website.

Love fabric art? Check out Sue Beiweiss’s blog. Her fabric folders are a great idea.

Wabi-Sabi is a fascination for me. The Japanese aesthetic of honoring the old, worn, and incomplete lead to quiet creativity and simplicity. Some resources for those who want to explore wabi-sabi. If you are as fascinated as I am by this reverence for the simple, the worn, and the unfinished,  keep an eye on my newsletter, Imagination Works. I teach a journal writing class based on the principles of wabi-sabi, and the announcements are always in the newsletter.

Remember your prom? These kids will. They went to “Stuck at the Prom” and they made their prom clothes entirely of duct tape. Dresses, tuxes, shoes, purses, wraps (pun intended) all made of duct tape. Who knew it came in so many colors? Sponsored by Duck brand duct tape.

Wish you could find a website dedicated to Photoshop techniques for artists? Get busy, you have lots to look at!

–Quinn McDonald is an artist, writer and certified creativity coach. See her work at QuinnCreative.com

A Christmas Alone

For the last several years, I’ve tried to persuade my husband not to buy me anything for the winter holidays. But he has fond childhood memories, and how could I deny him a decorated tree piled with presents. But I don’t want to own anymore stuff. I don’t want to dust it, pack it, move it, unpack it and figure out where to put it and then dust it again.

This year, I’m finally getting what I wanted, but it comes with a price. The house hasn’t sold yet, so I will be in Arizona for the holidays and he will be in Virginia. It doesn’t make a bit of sense to send packages back and forth, so in a grown-up, sensible way, we are not going to exchange gifts for the holidays. Or be with each other. There will be no stuff.

Having said that, going against custom is a big thing. We’ve never been apart for the holidays. But many other people are. Families who have a member in the military. People with relatives in hospitals or schools who simply can’t afford to pay the air fare. And instead of indulging, I can do things that will make others feel good.

So, another deep breath, and I’m on my way to try this new thing. I refuse to think of it as a sad day, or to feel sorry for myself. Let’s see if I can find the true meaning of the holidays. Without wrapping it in paper and putting a bow on it.

–Quinn McDonald is a writer and creativity coach. See her work at QuinnCreative.com (c) 2007, all rights reserved.

Creativity: Like Riding a Bike. . .

Note: Another in an occasional series on the link between riding a motorcycle and creativity.

Suzie Lighting is back in Virginia. The Suze is my motorcycle, named for the Warren Zevon song. There’s a line that says, “Suzie Lightning takes no prisoners. . .she lights up the sky and then she’s gone.” The first time I got on the bike, I was in heavy traffic on a new bike, driving carefully, watching out for the big SUVs that, combined with a driver on a cell phone, are deadly.

Waiting for a light to turn, I noticed the driver next to me texting on a cell phone. When the light turned, I checked the intersection and accelerated. The larger bike’s clutch caught quickly and earlier than the older one and I shot away from the cars on my left and right. By the next intersection, the bike had a name. . . Suzie Lightning.

But the Suze is back in Virginia, and I’m in Arizona. I’ll be heading back to Virginia this weekend to run some business communication classes. It will be December when I arrive, and I may not be able to ride. There are limits to what I will do to ride. Then again, at this moment, it’s 10 degrees colder here than back East.

Here’s something that’s true about riding a bike: even if you haven’t been on it for a while, by the time it warms up and I back it out of the driveway, it’ll feel comfortable.  I’ll stay in the neighborhood until I turn a few corners, and then I’ll feel comfortable.

While I’m waiting for the house to sell, I’m also without full art equipment. I bought $50 worth of supplies last week, and began to play around. And just like riding the bike, I had to stay in the familiar for a bit, and then I could take off and go new places.

Your creativity won’t desert you. The muse might go shopping, or take a nap, but your creativity won’t dry up. If you’ve been away from it for a while, you’ll let it idle and listen to the engine warm up, but you’ll feel comfortable and familiar again. In fact, after that first warm up, you might decide to go down a different road and see some new scenery.

And as you dive into your creativity, my wish for you is that you light up the sky with your own light. Take no prisoners. Warren would be proud of you.

–Quinn McDonald writes and teaches communication seminars. She rides a Honda Shadow, 750 cc, shaft drive. See her work at Quinncreative.com (c) Quinn McDonald 2007. All rights reserved.

Too Much Whipped Air

Early in life, I learned my family was different. Of course they were, they were immigrants to this country. I alone was born here, and my parents would point me out to strangers and say, “She is our Native American.” They did not understand the odd looks that scrutinized the curly-blond hair and green eyes on a little fair-skinned toddler.

I missed a lot growing up: fried pies, Hostess Snowballs, Barbie dolls, popsicles, baloney, fluffernutter sandwiches. My parents were frugal. My mom baked bread and planted a garden. We ate from the garden. The sandwiches I took to school were an embarrassment: homemade bread filled with our own lettuce and tomatoes, with sliced chicken from last night’s dinner. I traded them eagerly with schoolmates for mashed bean tortillas. Much better.

As much as I tried, I was always different. I never fit in with the “in” girls. So it was no surprise when I grew up that my kitchen didn’t look like my neighbors: no Cool Whip, no crock pot, no flavored coffees. I did have a container of whipping cream, a pressure cooker and an espresso pot. Not the fancy one, the one that worked on the stove top.

Two more modern conveniences are missing from my kitchen: almost butter that has nothing to do with butter and air-injected soap. We are a foaming nation. We love stuff that is pumped up with air to make it look fluffy and like more. (I will not, no, not, go for the metaphor.)

But I had to try them. Unlike my parents, who banned the strange new fads in favor of the solid known, I tried whipped margarine and pouffy soap. How in the world does anyone cook with this stuff? I was trying to fry eggs this morning. Over easy.

This takes just enough butter to coat the bottom of a pan. Depending on the size of a pan, you can use a teaspoon or so. I kept having to add more of the tub stuff because it kept disappearing. It vanished. It left little grease spots on the bottom of the pan. No wonder. The first ingredient in this fake butter is water.

After about a quarter cup (and it’s more expensive than butter) I had enough to crack the eggs into the pan. They burned solidly to the bottom of the pan. Whipped stuff doesn’t keep anything from sticking, so the pan is still on the stove, soaking the burned eggs off the bottom.

Which brings me to the whipped soap. To get it through the tube to whip it, it has to be a liquid consistency. They add extra water so you can pay more for pouffy soap. In a country obsessed with germs, they are cutting back on how much soap you get to use to wash your hands.

I pumped some of this stuff into the pan. It floats on top of the water, not breaking the surface tension, not emulsifying the oil. Not cleaning. How can pouffy soap not clean pouffy margarine? I check the label of this supposedly healthier margarine. Not only is it’s first ingredient water, the next is . . .”palm fruit oil.” Probably not date palms. Probably coconut palms. Coconut oil and palm oil are both partially hydrogenated and not on the edible list.

At least real butter is a known substance. This stuff doesn’t have a shelf life, it has a half life. In the time it has taken me to write this, the pouffy soap is still floating on top of the water in the pan. I’m going to dump this mess down the sink, get some real soap and baking soda for grit and scrub the pan clean. And cook with butter and wash with soap. And get the whipped air out of my life.

–Quinn McDonald is a writer and certified creativity coach. She is learning to live in the desert, but wants the whipped air set free. See her work at QuinnCreative.com (c) Quinn McDonald, 2007. All rights reserved.

Adapting to the desert

There don’t seem to be a lot of birds in the desert. There are pigeons and ravens, crows and grackles. Grackles are much like crows, but leaner, and the females are brown. They are successful because they adapt quickly. Now that summer is over, there are very few insects around. And crackles are insect eaters. One of their adaptations is to develop a taste for other foods. They hang around dumpsters, much like sea gulls on the East Coast.

But they have learned to let cars catch insects for them. Drive into a parking lot, and a raven lands on your hood. If the hood isn’t warm, you haven’t driven far enough to warm up their feet. They leave. A warm engine means you’ve driven far enough to catch bugs.

After they land on the hood and decide you’ve got insects in your wipers, they hop up to your windshield wipers and clean up any fresh bugs that haven’t dried up yet.

The first few times this happened, it was a little too Tippy Hedren for me. Then I saw what they were doing and I was amazed. Adaptation is a form of intelligence that keeps a species alive. You don’t see grackles complaining that the insects have left. Nope. They scare the bejeezus out of you and fend for themselves.

–Quinn McDonald watches nature and learns her own lessons. See her work at QuinnCreative.com (c) 2007 All rights reserved. Image: Quinn McDonald.

Art on a Budget (tutorial)

A few days ago, I spent $50 on art supplies so I could get back to making art. I discovered that the only paper I had was my journal, so that meant small format art. I also discovered that I had to make my own decorative papers, since I don’t have access to it.

To create decorative papers, I painted a journal page with gel medium. Using a colorful catalog, I ripped thin strips (grain long works best) from the catalog, staying in one color family. Using more gel medium, I glued the strips so they overlapped. The white edges were fine. When the gel medium was dry, I used the water-color crayons and paint to cover the gaps that showed the journal pages. Another color of gel medium (semi-gloss) and I have decorative paper to cut up and use in projects.

My next project was one of the word/image pieces I do. I opened a new journal page, and painted the entire double-truck in Titan Buff (Golden acrylic) thinned with semi-gloss gel medium. This gave me a uniform background. Because the back of the page was the decorative paper experiment, the page soaked up a good deal of paper, and the paint absorbed differently on one page than the next. That happened to be fine with me, it gave it a more interesting effect.

I added another layer of paint, this time creating background. I kept it simple because I had only a few colors. For the rest of the image, I used torn paper. I used ink pen and acrylic on a small brush for the tree. For the writing I used a brush pen in brown. I’d drawn in guidelines to keep the writing straight, but the ink of the brush pen didn’t dry after three hours, so when I went to erase the guidelines, the ink smeared. Good lesson to learn.

When you experiment, don’t expect everything to work out perfectly. What you learn on the trial run will come in hand later. This is similar to painters doing studies of their subjects before working on the final piece.

Arizona is filled with ravens and crows.  They both mate for life and form family groups, which can be great fun.  Ravens and crows both have a long history of trickster and magical stories attached to them, and while I am not an illustrator, I find drawing them a good way to learn how to look at objects.  Here I used graphite pencil to create a sketch, not erasing mistakes and not abandoning the drawing. Harder than it sounds, but a good drawing exercies.

–Quinn McDonald is an artist and certified creativity coach. See more information at QuinnCreative.com (c) 2007. All rights reserved. Images: Quinn McDonald.

Thanksgiving: Links to Gratitude

Alone on Thanksgiving can be a restorative practice. I decided to spend the day in silence, gratitude and meditation, away from the busy, commercial world. I chose this because I had never done it. Many people are alone on Thanksgiving, afraid and hurt. If you are alone, here are some tips and links to make your solitude fill with gratitude.

1. East something new. I made a simple salad of jicama (HICK-ih-mah) and mango preserved with chili, salt and sugar. Jicama is a vegetable that looks like a stone, needs to be peeled with a vegetable peeler, and is best eaten raw. It has a crisp texture and a just-sweet enough flavor to make it a salad ingredient. I purchased both the preserved mango and jicama in a Latino market. Dice both the jicama and preserved mango, dress with orange juice.

2. Burn incense or wear perfume. Your sense of smell is a powerful memory machine. Smelling something wonderful lifts your spirits and helps you remember today as special. Use incense that is wild-harvested, not sticks made of glue and sawdust. My current favorite perfume is Miller-Harris’s Figue Amere, a gentle wind-swept scent of wild figs and Mediterranean herbs. A great place to explore scents is Lucky Scent.

3. Online can be a a window to the outdoors. Check your clock, and if it’s daytime in Vancouver, you can watch the beluga whales. No matter what the time, you can watch live or pre-recorded underwater activity in the Monterey Bay. (This one takes a while to load. When you get the picture, wait until you see the picture moving before expecting to see animals.) More interested in wolves? Watch for them (live camera, so make sure it’s daytime in Tennesee, USA) as they walk by the camera. (This one takes patience; you may have to wait for wolves, but the scenery without wolves is lovely as well.) The National Zoo in D.C. has a cam on the pandas. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, or check out the still camera pictures.

4. Want to get out of your head and think about the larger world? Peter Russell’s World Clock will tell you how many barrels of oil are being pumped out of the ground, how many people are being born and are dying, or watch the earth’s temperature rise.

–Quinn McDonald is a writer and certified creativity coach. (c) 2007 All rights reserved. Thanks to the magazine Spirituality and Health for some of the ideas and links. Miller-Harris image: www.Millerharris.com Jicama image: www.uga.edu

Art Challenge at Thanksgiving

It sounds like a recipe for a Thanksgiving tear-jerker: My spouse is in Virginia, waiting for our house to sell; the people I’m staying with are in the Caribbean, watching the UConn Lady Huskies play; I’m alone in Arizona without a Thanksgiving invitation.

The instant I knew this would happen, I began to plan for it. No turkey, nothing that makes me feel alone and sad. No need. I chose this way of moving to another state, and knew it could happen. Dinner will be a favorite chicken recipe, and I will go over all the things I have to be grateful for. It’s a long list.

One of the things I miss the most is not having my art supplies here with me. Today I came up with an idea–if I spent $50 on art supplies, what would I chose? How much art could I make? Off I went to Utrecht Art Supply in Tempe to find out. I had a few things with me–my journal would serve as paper, I have a few pencils and pens, I can borrow masking tape and some cheap, hardware store 1-inch brushes for gel medium. Here’s what I purchased:

– An 8-0z. jar of gel medium in semi-gloss Golden gel medium. Can’t live without it. It’s glue, it’s paper prep, it makes colors more transparent.

– Five small bottles of Golden acrylics in Titan Buff, Naples Yellow, Raw Umber, Interference Gold, and Cobalt Turquoise. Can’t resist that gold shimmer. I stuck to one color palette and added a contrast.

–A set of inexpensive brushes for paint, blending and gel medium application.

–A box of 15 Caran D’Ache water soluble neocolor crayons. I’ve never used them before, but I love crayons and the idea that these can be used with water is exciting. And it extends my color range.

–A kneaded eraser, a 6-inch ruler, a hardware store version of an X-acto Knife.

That’s it. Tomorrow I’ll start to see what I can create with that supply list and whatever I can use for art in the house. This morning I noticed that the dining room chairs have some interesting carved designs. A rubbing might be nice.

I’ll publish the pieces as I go along. And if you, too, are alone at Thanksgiving, join in and make some art. Send along a photo to Quinncreative [at] yahoo [dot] com, and I’ll post the best ones.

I also stopped at the library and picked up three great books, two world music CDs, and a DVD of a classic movie–Now, Voyager with Bette Davis and Paul Henreid. What a great weekend–chick flick, art and no bickering relatives!

–Quinn McDonald is an artist, writer and certified creativity coach. See her work at QuinnCreative.com (c) 2007 All rights reserved.

Book Art and Color Thesaurus

There is so much information on the Web, it’s amazing we can sort out the useful from the dregs. I depend on others who find wonderful things to send them to me; I post them so you can add them to your bookmarks. Pete Harbeson and Paul Lagasse are major sources of wonderful and obscure links. Today, it’s Pete’s turn.

He knows I’m an artist, so he sends me art links. He sent me this great thesaurus for color names. After all, who knows the difference between bluebell and azure? The Color Thesaurus does!

And if all that color needs to go into a sketchbook, here is one that is both horizontal and vertical.

You may be familiar with the work of Brian Dettmer, particularly if you are attracted to altered books. (That’s an example of his work on the left.) This site shows Brian’s work, but it is not Brian’s site. However, this site, Centripital Notion, will also treat you to a film of a sphere being turned inside out.

Go get inspired!

–Quinn McDonald is a certified creativity coach and a writer. See her work at QuinnCreative.com Image: Brian Dettmer’s work on Centripital Notion.