Color

Color is everywhere. We perceive it easiest with our eyes, but color is in sound, it is in an emotion, it is in our very being. We take color for granted...it surrounds us constantly. If you are sighted, you have a perception of what color is.

How can you hear a color? I'm not really sure how it happenes, but it does, or else we would never have heard of an entire music genre called "The Blues". A happy sounding song might be perceived as yellow. We also know what it means if someone describes a band, or music, as being "dark".

Marketers are experts on using color to get you to do what they want. Fast food restaurants are full of brightly colored decor, like red and yellow. These colors excite your emotions and cause you to eat faster and open up the tables for more diners. Blue has been proven to be calming, and orange (blue's compliment) is not.

I have been thinking about this concept for some time. I think it warrants more study. My favorite color is dark purple. That color means something to my being. What is your favorite color?

Artistic Frenzy

I have been in a card making frenzy lately. Maybe it's my new stamp sets, or the change of the season, or the fact I need to give away a bunch of them real soon so the need for them is great. Yesterday, my desk was chaotic but I managed to squeeze out 20 cards out of the mess. Yes, that's right, tuh-whun-tee.

One thing I like to do is make one design in a whole bunch of different colors. It amazes me to see the same layout and design with each one, technically the same, yet saying something unique. A red card is going to invoke a different reaction than a green one or a purple one. Some people like yellow, but others are drawn to blue.

A fun thing about creating is being able to give the finished piece to someone. I already know who will get the green card, and who will flip over the turquoise one.

When a card is finished and I am satisfied enough with the results to pass it on to a recipient, the creative cycle is complete. Artists have a need to create, but what good is it if you cannot pass it on? Passion drives you to develop your skills, but we eventually have to have purpose.

The incredible painter, Helen Van Wyk, would say on her teaching programs, "No one will ever appreciate the labor intensity behind your work. Once you can accept that, being an artist is tolerable. I will take hours to complete your piece, but that will never be realized by anyone except you. Your work will speak for itself." Even as accomplished as she was, she spoke from experience. There's alot to learn from her words. She created with passion and with purpose.

What is your frenzy? Where is your passion? Is it in music, dance, cooking, design, crafts, painting, writing? Have you found a purpose?

Now I have to start thinking about battening down for the night. My alarm will be set for get-up-when-it's-still-dark obnoxiously early tomorrow so I can get to church an hour before the doors open for the C3 conference. Why? All I can say is "choir practice". So much for sleeping in on a day off from work. At least there is a purpose involved! Ta-ta.....

Creative chaos

I love creativity. It is so much a part of who I am that I don't realize how much it shows. The upside of it is having something come from it. When the creative sparks fly, you gotta start the fire! Sometimes that fire will make chaos. Take a look at my workspace to see what I mean (click on the picture for a bigger view):


I have to admit, there's not a lot of wiggle room on it right now. There are a whole lot of sparks flying, though!

At the end, when you wind up with something like this coming out of all that chaos,

it is all worth it.

The next Stampin' Up party is on October 21st at 7 p.m. If you want more information, leave me a message. We'd love to have you there!
Let's be creative together. . . but with less chaos.