March is here. I can already feel a wellspring of creativity bubbling up. Before every next leap I’ve taken in this creative life of mine, I’ve known it because I awaken around 4 am every morning. My mind becomes active and I may as well settle into whatever it is that is brewing, write it down and complete the dialogue I am having with myself. Or occasionally I’ll dabble with paint. Trying to go back to sleep before daybreak is a lost cause.
I am grateful for even earlier than usual awakenings because to me that means spring is in the air and creative energy is stirring.
Charlotte Brontë was right when she said, “A ruffled mind makes a sleepless pillow.”
“Create with the heart, build with the mind.” ~ Chriss Jami, American poet, essayist and philosopher
Back in April of 2015, I posted a blog about 29 cities around the world who have UNESCO’s Creative Industry designations behind them. It was a highly read piece. Today, I’d like to reshare a few tidbits of information about the same subject.
Did you know Baltimore is known as a literary hub due to the notable authors who were Baltimore natives or spent much time in these parts writing? Think! F. Scott Fitzgerald, Anne Tyler, Edgar Allen Poe, and Tom Clancy. Then there was Anne Lamott, who was educated at Goucher College in Towson, Maryland. Back in the 1980s, a statement made by the Mayor was a bit controversial when he said, “the city’s literary heart beats as strongly as ever.” Hopefully Maryland author’s words will live on forever on pages and in the annals of the State’s literary history.
What about you? Are you a person with visionary ideas who thinks they’d be useful in a creative economy? Why not envision where the concepts might take you and act on it.
The small town is passing. It was the incubator that hatched all our big men… ~ Will Rogers
A few weeks ago, I went to a very absorbing art exhibit at Liriodendron Mansion based on the art of Jeffrey Conover. The artist uses his creativity by returning to a passion he had as a child- model building. Conover’s miniature fictional town is named Yelverton. The exhibit tells the story of life in 1900 living in a seaside village which was at the time central to the transportation industry. Boats sail in and out of the harbor, and at the wharf is a boat builder. A lighthouse sits as a beacon of hope and to guide through the storms. Cows graze on the hillside nearby where the creamery sits. There is also a clothier, a trading post, a livery stable and community churches as well as a mansion complete with a billiards room, lit by a Tiffany lamp. The Sheepscot River Valley Railroad runs through the town. Each handmade structure and all of the other embellishments helps one to imagine life in Yelverton. The exhibit invites us to envision what our perfect “Yelverton” would look like.
After reading the artist’s biography, it seems to me modeling building has been Conover’s pathway throughout his life. He’s had an honorable military career, working in intelligence communities and now is helping young people to appreciate wholesome values as a lay youth minister. He is an outstanding and upstanding model himself! For more photos and information on Conover’s impressive creative project please visit his Facebook page
I’m grateful I took time out to see the Yelverton and Sheepscot Valley Railroad exhibit at Liriodendron Mansion. It transported me to another place and time. Isn’t that what good stories are meant to do?
Lately I’ve had the opportunity to speak with some of my peers who have asked me about my writing life. Then inevitably, the discussion turns to finding purpose in life after retirement.
If you are a baby boomer like me, following what was expected of us was the norm. You know how it goes – get the degree(s), find a job/career, buy a house, have the children. Then BOOM before you know it the empty nest hits and retirement nears leaving us to wonder, now what? We are too active to sit home and age, as previous generations did after retirement. But, many of us haven’t a clue as to what to do next. We’ve never really taken time out for ourselves to explore who we are at heart and creatively.
Personal fulfillment means something different to each one of us. It’s quite profound when you find your passion, as I did with writing, without struggling to find it and it comes in the natural order of life’s events.
Another case in point. I have a friend who is retired, and in her travels to Hawaii she became interested in learning to play the ukulele. So she and a few friends took lessons. They formed a musical group and just had their first concert at a community church in Vermont. Some of the proceeds from the concert will go to support the church’s breakfast outreach program. Way to go ladies!
If a curiosity about something comes to you, my advice is to stay open to it. It may be a latent interest you’ve always had but were never aware of it. Set out on a creative quest, see where your interest leads rather than trying to orchestrate life to go the way you think it should. Self-discovery is fascinating.
Next time on All Things Fulfilling, I will tell you about a gentlemen who in his retirement has taken an interest he had in his childhood and has now found even a greater level of personal fulfillment in it. Come on back. We are always posting new content.
I see you! I may know something about you. You are just like I once was, hesitant to share my literary art. It felt risky because then I’d be an open book! Guess what? My writing has been the most fulfilling thing I’ve done in my lifetime, other than tackling the hardest job on the planet – doing my best at being a good mother.
Springtime is a great time to take an exciting leap. Whether you’re someone who has been turning wooden wares on a lathe, doing some art journaling, enjoying creating choreography for a dance, writing lyrics to a song or putting paint on paper or canvas hoping your art will become gallery-worthy, don’t hide your light under a bushel. Step into it! Unleash your creative freedom.
“Hand-penned letters written by our ancestors are evidence of their human spirit, and in part, our own.” ~ Sue Batton Leonard
Does anyone share my opinion that a part of civility went out the window when the popularity of corresponding by handwritten letter went by the wayside?
I ended up being the “caretaker” of the largest part of the maternal family ancestral records, memorabilia and ephemera. Among them are letters to and from one of my ancestors, whom I believe was a woman ahead of her time. She held a position in the late 1800’s that few other women in the country did. Her treasured correspondence has details about her employment and resignation from her position. The letters are so properly and beautifully communicated, they put our dashed off business and personal-related text and email communications in this day and age to shame.
Every so often I reread the letters, thinking I will try to pair down what I am storing, but five years after my parent’s deaths, it is very difficult to do. It would be like forgetting my forebearers from several past generations ever existed. To me, that is a moral/ethical dilemma when I think an author’s literary influences and writings, in part, come from the provision of one’s inherited background.
“…man is a bundle of relations, a knot of roots, whose flower and fruitage is the world…” Ralph Waldo Emerson
So what’s your story? I’ve often wondered if people would live their lives differently if they considered every single day we are writing our own legacy by the choices we make, the way we interact with one another and the things we take an interest in. When reflecting on one’s life, sometimes the memoirist gets a glimpse into what an individual would like to do over, if given the chance. Unfortunately, we only have one chance at wholesome living here on earth.
What it is like help an individual reflect on one’s life? Here is a little insight into The Art of the Memoir
Have you ever known anyone who seems to make an art out of everything they do? I have. I greatly admire them for it. I try to put a little touch of creativity into my every day tasks and bring beauty into my home any which way I can.
I enjoy casual crafting and find personal fulfillment in that. I had fun handcrafting a few simple Christmas gifts. Decoupage satisfied my desire to dabble with something I hadn’t done in a decades. The colors held pretty well on the pansies I had been pressing between parchment paper inside a book since last spring.
I attached a little watercolor tag to each of the decoupaged bottles which said, “Bottle your hopes and dreams, but remember to uncork and act!”
Photo Above: Three decoupaged art journals. Most of the pages were left blank, so the recipient can use the booklet however they wish. My sister called me immediately after receiving hers. “I know exactly what I am going to do with mine!” I look forward to seeing it. She received the journal on the right.
In my writing as with my crafting, I don’t wait for inspiration to strike. I’ve learned to start and see where my Creator leads me. Living without overthinking too much gives us freedom to live by what comes naturally. That’s wholesome living in and of itself.
Cheers for a creative New Year! Hard to believe the first month is nearly over.
Watercolor is a medium which I’ve always considered a “wild child.” It wanders where it wants to go and easily gets puddled up in messes. From my own experience of just “dabbling and splashing about” with watercolors, its a very hard medium to tame. Thanks to artist, Frank Spino who was graciously giving of his time and explanation, he shared a few tips he uses to get the results he wants. I understand a little more of how he keeps control on a paint medium that strays and meanders. Using his easel set up with a work-in-progress, he talked with me about his process, which was so informative.
My meeting Frank Spino came last Sunday, when I went to an art exhibit he’d curated. He and four more watercolorists -Kathleen Maling, Joanna Barnum, Matthew Bird, Janet Means Belich “Five Voices in Watercolor,” was exhibited at the Gallery 220 in Havre de Grace, Maryland. All equally talented having earned what many might call “elite status” in the world of watercolor painting. Their work has been juried in to the prestigious American Watercolor (AWS) International Exhibition and many have been featured in top-notch art magazines.
Each one of the artists is set apart stylistically by what they bring to the paper. Frank Spino wowed me with the high level of color saturation he has been able to achieve through a very watery medium. A transplant from Florida, you can see where the interest in the citrus subject matter came from. His work is by no means limited to fruit.
As with former Floridian, Kathleen Maling, whose interest often lies in painting very large scale reptiles, such as lizards and crocodiles, alligators and Komodo dragons. Gigantic creatures! But that is not all! Her watercolor “Egret,” shows her adeptness at painting shorebirds.
Matthew Bird‘s work has a special softness to some of his figurative work, which upon my first introduction to him seems to be in-line with his demeanor. “Stopping by the Woods” and “Angel of Music,” as well as his classical still life paintings had me doing a triple-take, as I thought they were oil paintings.
“The Poet is a Funnel” by Joanna Barnum brought to the viewer a very emotive piece, depicting the face of Grace Cavalieri who was the tenth Poet Laureate of Maryland. It shows the poetess in three poses whereby her deep feelings for perhaps what she was writing or feeling about poetry she read are on full display. Grace has obviously been very moved. As you can see in much of Joanna Barnum‘s work on her website, it is affective, imaginative and powerful.
Last, but certainly not least, the Indian corn, leaf paintings and the Amish and simple life paintings brought to the exhibit by Janet Means Belich, were all synchronistic down-to-earth images. Much of what can be seen in her images are found in the fields and destinations in this partly rural county and in nearby Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Photo by Sue Leonard:
Back row – Artists Frank Spino (l) and Matthew Bird (r),
Front row – Johanna Barnum(l), Janet Means Belich (c), Kathleen Maling (r)
“Five Voices in Watercolor” was a spectacular exhibit. I enjoyed the art, speaking with each of the artists and taking in the “art vibe” once again in Havre de Grace, MD.
Visual artists will paint what they see in 1,832 words! Here’s the backstory!
Any creative person dab at hand, as the English say, does not like stagnation. It’s exciting to step into something new and untried before. Last summer, I wrote a short story I was especially proud of. The storyline came to me quickly and then came the real epiphany – it’s time to do something different with one of my narratives. Even though it’s scary because the project would be uncultivated grounds for me, it’s not reason enough not to see what can develop out of it. We never know what can become of things if we don’t take chances in life.
I tested the waters by having a few select people read the short story and the feedback propelled me to take the next leap of faith as a writer. Long story short, I have asked a small group of visual artists to join me. Why? Because collaboration helps us to grow. All agreed to take a leap of faith with me and let our collaborative inner creative lead the way.
I am excited about the year in front of me. I am grateful for the painters who have jumped on board with this project. I have specifically chosen each individual for several reasons – I like what they bring to their canvases and I enjoy the energy they bring to their own individual artistic pursuits. Soon, I will reveal the participating visual artists and more about the project, which is still developing. It will unfold in some way during the season of renewed energy. Stay tuned to AllThingsFulfilling.com.
“Creativity is always a leap of faith. You are faced with a blank page, a blank easel, or an empty stage.” ~ Julia Cameron.
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