Arts & Culture: Scribbling In Order to Awaken Creativity

For today's Arts & Culture post I'd like to share something that I've been thinking a lot about recently and that's awakening creativity. First of all, I know that you're probably distracted by this weird photo above :-) However, when I was going through some files on my computer, I found this little sketch. I know that it looks like I probably drew this when I was a toddler, but actually it was only about eight years ago. I'll tell you now, this isn't an actual drawing that I made with my hand. I drew this very badly on an antiquated phone that I had at the time when I was just fooling around one day and for some reason I saved it onto my computer. It's very badly drawn because I drew it with my fingernail on an electronic pad and I had no idea what I was doing. LOL. I can draw much better than this in reality. Anyway, enough of my excuses ;-)

So when I found this photo in the deep recesses of my computer I laughed at it but it instantly brought back the memory of when I created it. The thing that I remember most about it was that it was just a bit of throw away fun that I ended up not throwing away and I'm glad that I still have it and here's why.

Recently I've been trying to awaken more of my creativity and to get back to a place where I can exercise that part of myself more. When I saw the picture above it reminded me that sometimes just having fun can lead you down a path of discovery. Many of us often take ourselves way too seriously and want to create something wonderful and there's nothing wrong with that...that's what I want. However, sometimes you have to scribble and doodle in life in order to let go, so that your mind is open to create something that you love. I think that scribbling and doodling and letting your mind just have fun releases the attachment to outcome and your able to tap into your creativity more readily.

So now that I've found my little scribbly doodle above, I'm going to keep it as a reminder to just let go and breathe and enjoy the journey that is creativity! 

Arts and Culture: Importance, meaning and the Arts Council.

 

Hello, and welcome back to the labyrinth.  In today's post, I would like to talk about the importance of the arts and culture, and what they might mean, in our lives.  For me, art, in any form, can be inspiring and regenerative, can stun the senses creating wonderment (for example, the first time I saw Turner's work in London, and Monet's work in Paris - all I could say and think was 'Wow...'), and can massively enhance our mood.  It feels good to read a great book, to be an audience member at a great play, film or concert, or to produce something creative yourself, doesn't it?  Culture, for me, represents humanity in action - the road map of how we have lived and are living, and what we think, feel and believe.  In today's multi-cultural society, then, the inevitable blending of artistic and cultural ideas should be more interesting and exciting than ever.

Arts & Culture: Nature As A Work of Art

 

Keeping it simple today for arts & culture...

The beautiful work of art that we call nature puts on its own special show every day!

Enjoy and have a great weekend! :-)

Arts & Culture: April 26 - World Intellectual Property Day

Hello and welcome back to Arts & Culture.

As you can see, today is 'World Intellectual Property Day', celebrated every year on April 26, to raise awareness and understanding of Intellectual Property ('creations of the mind...inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, symbols, names commercial images' - from: http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/).  The World Intellectual Property Organization has been in existence since 1970, holds events, workshops and training sessions all around the world, and runs an awards program to highlight and encourage creativity and innovative thinking  If you click on this link you can visit their website, which is brimming with information, links to events and a free magazine you can subscribe to.

As bloggers and creative people, Dori and I are very aware of the multitude of issues concerning intellectual property, such as copyright, patents, and trademarks.  In our modern world, with the immediacy of the internet and social networking, it can be very easy for anyone to publish something they do not own, and having been alerted recently to the copy/pasting of some of our own material on another site, and to the attempted theft of a family member's own brand and logo, I felt this was a relevant organization that our readers might be interested in.

I hope you all have a great Saturday and enjoy the weekend!

Until next time...


All information from the WIPO portal at: http://www.wipo.int/portal/en/

Arts & Culture: Photography Books Celebrating the Art of Life

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I love taking pictures and one of the things that I really enjoy is looking at the work of amazing photographers. I love the artistry of a well-crafted photo. It's a true art!

Recently I've had the opportunity to enjoy two great books of photos that are rooted in the examination of style. On the surface it would seem that the two books are very different but actually they have a lot in common. They both celebrate everyday people who are being themselves and expressing themselves in the ways that they adorn themselves.

See the World Beautiful by Anne Menke,
published by Glitterati Incorporated,
http://glitteratiincorporated.com

The first of the two books is called See the World Beautiful. It's the work of photographer Anne Menke and chronicles her travels around the world. It's a beautifully large book that measures roughly 11x 14 inches and its sheer size makes it an amazing photographic experience. The pictures are large and you can see lots of detail which makes each image seem as if you're peeking through a window.

See the World Beautiful by Anne Menke,
published by Glitterati Incorporated,
http://glitteratiincorporated.com

Anne Menke really captured the true universal human experience in her wonderful book of photographs. The true artistry and her skill made for an amazing experience.

The Way We Wore: Black Style Then by Michael McCollom,
published by Glitterati Incorporated, http://glitteratiincorporated.com

The other book is called The Way We Wore: Black Style Then by designer and photographer Michael McCollom. This lovely book makes me think of a family photo album in that it documents the personal style moments in the lives of McCollom's family, friends, and acquaintances. 

May 1960, New York City.
Arlene Hawkins,
Owner of Arlene Hawkins Cosmetics

The book beautifully chronicles the style contributions of African-Americans and how that style has influenced international fashion culture.

Both books were very intriguing and I think they both shine a light upon something very important. Each book reminded me of the power of the individual and the connection to culture as a whole. In just being ourselves and expressing ourselves we are celebrating our creativity and to me that is an expression of art. We leave our mark by how we choose to show up in this world.

There is so much to explore and there are so many ways of living in this world. And living has an air of the artistic to it. I love that! We are here to create our lives and to embrace the journey.

Arts & Culture: Graduation Day at the Barbican - Update

Hello readers and welcome again to Arts & Culture.

You may remember that a couple of weeks ago I graduated at the Barbican in London, and I posted a YouTube video and a link to the Barbican website?  Well, my graduation day was long and we all had sore feet at the end of the day, but it was absolutely brilliant.  The Open University had the ceremony arranged perfectly, and walking across the stage to accept my degree was a lot less scary than I'd expected!  Here's a shot of me just after the presentation:

Arts and Culture : Graduation Day at the Barbican

Hi everyone, and a very Happy Saturday to you all.

I'm REALLY excited today, as I'm graduating this afternoon after four wonderful years of study!  I live in the far west of England, but chose to graduate at the Barbican in London, as I'm from London originally, my close family still live there, and it makes for a great day out.  A weekend away is always a bonus, too.  I remember going to a classical music concert at the Barbican when my husband and I were first dating, but that was years ago (Okay, not that long!), and I hadn't realised what a fascinating place it is.  I thought it might be interesting to show you a little about it, and, if you like, they have a dedicated YouTube channel where you can watch more of what goes on there.

ARTS & CULTURE: Spring-time and accessing art.

Hello, and welcome.  Today, I’m writing to you from London, and it feels like Spring has finally ‘sprung’.  This week we’ve had long periods of beautiful sunshine and everyone seems to be celebrating the fact that it has finally stopped raining!  Everything outside looks renewed and refreshed; the trees are covered in blossom, daffodils are bobbing their cheerful, bright yellow heads about and there are countless buds and shoots bursting out all over.  It makes you want to go out and enjoy it; perhaps sketch or paint what you see...  There’s a sense of seeing things anew in Spring, don’t you think?  I guess it’s because light and shade are now more clearly defined and the shapes of the living things around us change as they grow.  We’re aware at this time of year of growth and life, and the riot of colour that rings out from various spring-flowering bulbs and blossom.  So light and warmth bring life and enjoyment, which leads me (finally!) to the point of today’s post.

Arts and Culture Section Debut

 

Hello and welcome to our new Saturday slot for Arts and Culture.  This section will feature posts concerning elements of the artistic and cultural world, including music, film, theatre, literature, festivals, days out, and anything of interest that might be coming up or going on.  If anyone has anything to add to this section, for example, if there is something going on in your area you’ve enjoyed or you’d like to raise awareness of, please leave a response in the comments section.  We’d love to hear from you.

For this first post, I thought I’d tell you about a couple of recent National Theatre Live (NTL) screenings my daughter and I went to.  The National Theatre (see here for details) has been running nationwide cinema screenings of its current theatre productions, and we were able to ‘go to the theatre’ locally, albeit via a cinema screen, at an affordable price.