Creative Practice: Setting Yourself Up For Success In The New Year

The creative process is as nourishing to me as the air I breathe or the water I drink.  The more I create, the more complete I feel.  However, even for me creativity does not come without its challenges.
Recently I decided that I would make a new committment to creative practice--to being in my studio EVERY day.  I made no further plans, trusting that allowing for creative time would be enough to make something interesting happen. Indeed, it has been true that just setting the time aside to create has been incredibly empowering. However, I have found that in my intention to enact a daily creative practice, I need a little more than just  time.

I know a lot of people make committments (dare I say resolutions?) for the new year. Of these, I think that developing a creative practice could be one of the most positive, even life altering resolutions one can make.  To this end, I'd like to demystify a bit of what it takes to start and maintain a daily creative practice.

Four Simple Things You Need In Order to Set Up and Maintain a Creative Practice:

1. Inspiration: I'm starting with the big one, because I know some people think that this is a big magical thing that certain people have and others don't.  I'm not sure that's true, though I do know a few people who seem to have been born without that creative gene.  However, YOU are reading this post, and so YOU are not that person! You may not know exactly what your inspiration is just yet, but if you have the interest I really truly believe that is all you need to start with.  If you have the interest, and you set up the time and the space (see below), the inspiration will come.  And if it doesn't? Well, that's why God invented Pinterest.  I will be devoting another post soon to inspiration prompts, but you really don't even need me for that.  There is pinterest, there are a million artist and art teacher posts and blogs, and creative ideas are a dime a dozen on that thing called the internet.  For that reason, I'm bowing out of this one, and asking you to trust me on this.  Set up the next three pieces, and you will be well primed when inspiration comes calling.  And if it doesn 't come calling?  Go look for it.  Its out there. Google it. I promise.

2. Time: Probably the biggest barrier to maintaining a creative practice is finding the time to do so. Making time is really about shifting priorities.  If you think you have no time, there is really nothing I can say that will shift that perception.  But if you, like me, want to make time (or need to make the time), the best suggestion that I can make is to plan it in advance and set it up like an appointment. Figuring out the best time for your creative work is very personal, and it also takes a bit of introspection.  I know that my best time for innovative work (large painting, writing, developing new ideas) is the morning, in my studio, but my best time for maintenance work--lower key work that requires less creativity but more technique like sewing or small scale drawing, or developing my website is at night, in front of the tv. This is different for everyone, but I do think it is essential for whatever you do to figure out when you are at your best, and set that time aside for your work. If you are just starting out, or strapped for time, you might also identify where in your schedule you can fit in a small amount of time for creativity.   It could be at night after the kids go to bed, or very early in the morning.  I think  30  minutes a day is a reasonable amount of time to set aside, but if that sounds crazy to you, even sketching on a piece of scrap paper for a few minutes a day can be satisfying.  You may find that if you make this a regular practice, you can get a lot done in a few minutes--and you may eventually start adding more time without even really thinking about it.

2. Space: For some projects all you really need is a cleared kitchen or dining room table.  I do have a studio in my basement where I do all my really messy or larger projects, but when I just want to sketch or work on a small watercolor, I find I prefer to work on my dining room table so that I am near my family.  This way, if the kids are busy playing around me, I can actually be present and creative at the same time. I also have space set aside for supplies.  For me this is primarily in storage bins and shelving units in my studio, but I also keep some basic supplies in a cabinet in my kitchen. I pull these out whenever I find that I have a few minutes or an idea that I want to work on.  These are usually "dry" supplies--pens, markers, oil pastels and paper, but lately I've also been keeping a watercolor tray and some paintbrushes available so that when I want to create something its not such an intense process to get my space ready.

3. Supplies: This is a big one.  Depending on what you want to do, supplies can be as simple as pencils or markers and paper.  If you are serious about making this work, I suggest investing in good quality sketch or mixed media paper or an art journal and some good drawing pens. I personally almost never use pencils, especially for quick sketches and doodling--I prefer not to get caught up in trying to make something perfect and doing a lot of erasing. I draw with pens or markers,and allow for happy accidents.If I don't like the way something looks, I keep drawing and adding to it until I like it better.  Or, in some cases I throw it out (gasp!).  If that is not your style, you can substitute some good drawing pencils and a kneaded eraser for the markers. Below is a more extensive list of the types of things I always have on hand. Obviously this is based on the type of work that I do regularly, so see it more as a suggestion, and take from it what you will.

My Basic Studio Supply List:

• Computer paper or scrap paper---I don't waste my good paper on sketches or doodles, so I always have lots of cheap paper around. I also tend to turn my grocery lists, to do lists, old flyers and used envelopes into small drawings as well.  
•  Mixed Media Art paper (sizes 9x12 and 11x14)---they come in pads, and I always have some around for whatever small drawing or watercolor projects I want to do.
• Watercolor trays--for beginners I like Prang--they are inexpensive and the quality of color is actually very good.  I also use tubes of Grumbacher watercolor paint for my professional projects, but the Prang trays are good enough for quick projects.  
• Oil pastels---these are great for quick sketches, and I also use them in a lot of my mixed media work.  I add them as detail to my acrylic paintings, and I use them in watercolor resist.
• Acrylic paint-I use Liquitex. I suggest having some basic colors plus a lot of white to start (cadmium red, pthalo green, ultramarine blue, cerulean blue, cadmium orange, cadmium yellow, naples yellow, dioxanne purple, burnt sienna, white).  You can mix these to create lots of other colors and shades.
• Pallette for mixing paint and cup for water
• Paint brushes---I use synthetic acrylic or watercolor brushes in three general sizes.  If you have a small, fine tip, a medium fine tip, a medium square, and a larger tip brush, you should be Ok to do most of what you want.  
• Markers--I really like the the Pitt artist brushes, especially the Big Brush black india ink pen.  They don't last as long as I would like--or maybe I am just really hard on them.  but a new one makes an amazing line that I have not been able to find in any other product.  I replace them regularly, and at around $8 a brush, it can be an investment.  But I really like the result, so it is worth it.  I also have a box of art markers that I have collected over time.  In my box I have prismacolor art markers, lots of colored sharpies, and some brush markers in different colors.  They are useful to have around, but I don't use them a whole lot.   
• Glue, painters tape, mod podge, varnish--you know, for putting things together and finishing them off. A lot of my work has collage or mixed media elements.  Mod Podge is amazing for those projects. I use cheap foam brushes or cheap painters brushes from the hardware store to apply the mod podge.  I always seal my work with a quality artists varnish that works for both acrylic and oils.  
• Sewing supplies---this may just be for me, but since I've gotten into making art dolls I find these sewing supplies invaluable--I use them for my soft sculptures, but also sometimes with my mixed media paintings:  good scissors, different colors of multi-purpose thread, lots of different fabrics, needles, polyfill stuffing.  

I really do believe that everyone could do with more creativity in their lives.  Adding a creative practice to your day or week is a great way to increase positivity  and its cheaper than therapy!  Do you have a creative practice?  What helps you make it happen?

Busy Busy

Its been a busy time in my studio! I've been getting ready for my solo show "Tradition and Inspiration" that will be at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art starting January 22nd.  The show, which runs until April 4th, will include 45 original works that have been mainly created in the last 5 years.  I find this time frame to be most appropriate since that has been the amount of time that I have lived in Central Pennsylvania, and the time in which I have been my most productive, and most truly embraced the idea of being a working artist.

I am excited to share this body of work with you and to reflect on this theme which resonates so strongly through my experience as a Jewish educator and artist.

In addition to the work I have been creating for this show, and the work I have been creating for commissions or for sale, I have also been teaching.  I love how the act of teaching and developing communal art projects has been so invigorating, and how that work has inspired my own work, as well as the opposite.
As I endeavor to create and to be inspired, I am amazed at how fully this cycle is self perpetuating.  I teach, I create, I reflect, I begin again. I think I need to write a blog about this!  well, that will be more work for another day.

For today, I simply wanted to give you a glimpse into the work in my studio.  The works on my walls, on my art table, and on the side table (since I am out of room on my walls and on my art table), are all works in progress.  I can't wait to see what they will become, and to bring them all together, in their final form.

And this last piece is finally done...I think.

Hayom Harat Olam, Today the Earth is Born Anew.

On Rosh Hashanah we hear the shofar blast and recite "Hayom Harat Olam"  Today the world is born. I just love this idea--this concept of renewal and rebirth.  Today we are fresh and our world is fresh.  We are filled with the potential of tomorrow, we are pregnant with all that is possible.  Today we await what will be and we are also the creators of what will be.

-Mystical Earth

I am ready for this new year. I have great hopes for myself, my family and my community. I have two nephews and a niece to love and spoil, and another new nephew on his way. We have an upcoming  wedding that will bring joy to a family that has known too much sorrow.  My own children bring so much light and joy and laughter.  They are growing too fast and it is a pleasure to witness. My husband has meaningful work and our community continues to embrace us alongside him.  My work is satisfying and I keep finding new projects to keep me learning and growing. I have some hopes too. Perhaps this will be the year that I will finally let go of the behaviors that weigh me down and the parts of my life that are not as they should be.  Who knows what will be. Today is pregnant with eternity. Today is my chance to make change.  

With Best Wishes For a Shana Tovah! Happy New Year!

Communal Art Making at Camp

Here is another installment on creating art at Camp Ramah.  This time, I worked with students to create a piece of lasting communal art as a gift to camp.

As part of our process my campers and I engaged in study of prayer, held conversations about meaning, looked deeply at the words and language of those prayers and sought personal connections.

For this project each camper chose a specific prayer from shacharit (the morning service).  They studied alone and in groups and came up with images that described their chosen prayer.

I taught them to use oil pastels and watercolor paint to create watercolor resist paintings that reflected their ideas about the prayers that they studied.  Each camper created their own images based on their group conversations and personal connections.  

Had we left the work at this stage, I could safely say that my students had a unique experience studying prayer.  They were happy with their work and they had interesting things to say upon reflection.  However, we were only half done.

Once all the work had been created, we laid out the paintings on the ground.  Students were asked to reflect on the work and start to think about how to organize them into one large painting.  There was some debate, and this was not an easy process.  However, as they got into it, the ideas started to flow.  We came up with a design that told a story and reflected the many diverse ideas we find in our morning service.

we sketched out our mural idea on paper, and then the campers got to work cutting up their art in service of the larger mural.

Once all the pieces were cut out and laid down, the campers got to work putting them all together in a way that told a story and was visually appealing.  We struggled to find meaning and connection between the disparate pieces.   

When it was dry, we detailed it with acrylic paint and outlined each piece with india ink.  I think the final result is spectacular--a true example of artistic vision and communal process.  

Here is the final piece:

We are excited to share this with camp and see it placed in a makom t'fillah--a communal prayer space to be enjoyed by campers for many years to come.  

Making Micrography and Text Study at Camp

This Summer I taught at Camp Ramah in the Berkshires (Chinuch Staff, Yahadut for those of you playing along in Ramah Hebrew).  I was excited but nervous---I have loved my two previous years in the art room (omanut), and was not sure what to expect with the switch.

In true Jewish Leaning Thru Art form, I wanted to make sure that my classes included both real art creation and meaningful Jewish learning.  I worked with incoming 7th graders (Tzeirim) and 9th graders (Bogrim).

Our first project was based on the art form known as micrography or microcalligraphy.  I taught students about the history of the form, which developed in Egypt in the late 9th century, as a response to the Halackhic (Jewish Law) prohibition against creating graven images (images that could be used in idol worship). The rationale behind micrography was that an image created out of holy words could never be used in idol worship.  Interestingly, at the same time, and completely independently, this same art form arose in the Muslim world, as a response to a similar prohibition.  It seems that all cultures have the same need to create, and given a prohibition that attempts to block this urge, artists will go to great lengths to work around it.

Omer Calendar (detail)

Italy, ca. 1825 Micrographic text: Five Megillot (Esther, Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, and Lamentations) B (NS)Mc43

My campers looked at traditional micrographic images and talked about the reasons for the development of the art form. Then we looked at modern images and played with the technique.
Then, we pulled out the siddurim (prayer books).

Each student chose a prayer or text from Siddur Sim Shalom to study.  they talked about the prayers in Chevruta (study partnerships) to help them deepen their understanding of the prayer and its meanings:

After studying they created images using watercolor paint and pencil, and filled them in with the words of the text using sharpie markers.

These campers worked really hard, they learned a lot, and had a chance to slow down and really consider the words of prayer and their meanings.  I was so proud of them and really loved working with them!

Why Jewish Art Education???

There is an old Robert Frost Poem that says that "good fences make good neighbors".  And while the premise is just that, and the two neighbors spend their time mending the walls between them, Frost guides us to wonder: just because conventional wisdom says walls and borders and fences are good, does that really make it true?
When it comes to education, I have to think that good fences make for neighbors who are cut off from each other, who don't every really see eye to eye, who don't work together, and are weaker for it. Unless, as Frost suggests, we have cows who need to be fenced in, perhaps we don't really need the fences at all.  (*note: I originally came across this analogy in an article by Connie Dalke on art education and special needs inclusion,There are no cows here, 1984)

The prevailing ethos in general education is blending--engaging in multi media experiences, using technology and integrating subjects to create a more holistic learning approach.  When we really focus on our learners and their experience, rather than on our teaching and our experience, we see that making connections and integrating subjects really values our learners as a whole. Our learners' brains are not wired with fences between subjects.  Our learners' brains are glorious connection making machines.

This is why, when talking about the arts in Jewish education, it is so surprising to me when they get shrugged off.  As a synagogue educator I KNOW that we are facing a lack of time, a paucity of resources, and a crisis of disconnection.  When forced to make choices, it is easy to see why "the arts" may fall off the list of offerings.  And yet, ESPECIALLY because we are so limited, we NEED the arts even more.

I am not talking about adding craft projects to an already overloaded schedule.  While there is a time and a place for making kiddush cups and challah covers, this is not what I am referencing.  What I am talking about is arts integration--using arts based techniques to help teach and reflect on core curricular topics. In this model, the arts are used as a tool for teaching and reflection.  In our settings, when we teach Torah and reflect on relationships by acting them out, or by giving voice to a silent character, this is using the arts to further our learning.  When we create T'fillah (prayer) Stones that reflect on our intentions when we enter into prayer, or when we illustrate our own prayer books, this is arts integration.  When we slow down, focus on the process of learning and creating, rather than the speedy accumulation of skills, we are using the lessons of art integration.

 Our students are interested in meaning---they want to know about relevance.  And so while skills and literacy are building blocks that we cannot do without, if we do not provide them with context, with an opportunity to slow down and consider their relevance, then we are providing tools for a job (being Jewish), that our students may never choose to take on.

Not to be too dire, but the reality we are facing is one in which our students KNOW that Judaism is a choice, are often frustrated with the time they are spending on learning about that choice, and, given a lack of context, meaning or relevance, may very well end up making a different choice about what they believe or how they live in the long run.  We are fighting a battle for survival, and no amount of dikduk (Hebrew grammar), or ritual divorced from real life experience is going to help us.

In the long run, our only choice is to educate towards greater spiritual engagement, to explore moral education, to present our tradition in terms of the great human desires: for belonging, for creative exploration, for moral development, for connection.  When viewed with this lens, we know that Judaism and Jewish Education have much to offer.  And there is no field more ready to help take this on in real, human ways, than the arts.

When engaged in the arts, our students are able to slow down, to consider the many sides of a topic. The arts help us to think about meaning in metaphorical terms. They inspire us (even require us) to make our own connections.  The use of stories, dramatic interpretations, the creation of prayer imagery, the reconstructing of Biblical relationships, are all ways to make learning come alive.  Our students are thirsty for this kind of learning.  It is our job to provide it for them.