I think I never left childhood in some ways. I was the kid that wanted to play imaginary witches and fairies way past other children. This outpouring of creative was to such an extent that my home teacher in grade 4 asked my parents where my imagination came from in my report card! Imagination and creativity has always been a big part of who I am.
There is something about being in that free open space where you just make stuff up that has drawn me strongly to improvised theatre and to creating visual imagery in order to manifest the world I am imagining.
Though a creative person may use their learning and technique to produce a piece, it is the act of play mixed with technique and practical application that will forge something original. Whether it is art, design, theatre, improvisation, composition or invention, all must originate in creative play as a means to an end. Play is therefore one of life’s primal functions and the starting point of creation.
“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the object it loves.” Carl Jung.
I have been unhappy in life when I was not allowing myself to be creative. I engaged in this destructive course of action under the illusion of needing to grow up but my personal needs were not being met.
To quote illustrator Marian Machismo “To stop creating would be to stop existing and frankly that’s not an option for me.”
Essential to my creativity is the ritual of making my working space conducive to creative activity. Often I will clear and wipe my desk, light essential oil or incense stick, often myrrh (inspirational, empowering for life’s direction), or sandalwood (helps to centre and stabilise) and or music.
If I need to eradicate other issues or to leave one mode of thinking behind I will often have a shower as the act immersing myself in water seems to still my mind.
Pre-creative process for all projects I am involved in generally involves absorbing as much information about the project as I can. This will include the brief or project information, additional research or information on the subject’s environment. At this stage I may have also engaged in some general brainstorming or in list making. My next step involves walking away from the project leaving my mind space to marinate over possibilities in my subconscious.
Often engaging in activities that have repetitive physical action or concentrating on something totally different will assist in opening my mind to a bevy of possible solutions.
Albert Einstein’s quotes:
“The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery, there comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution just comes to you and you don’t know from where or why?”
Or “Why is it I get, my best ideas in the morning while I’m shaving?”
Intuition is the act of your mind providing you with the answer once you stop thinking about the problem. It is an essential tool for me in all aspects of design.
I like to conceptualize a meaning to the each piece that I embark on. The improviser within me often manifests this meaning as an emotion, mood or feeling that needs to be conveyed to its audience. It is all about communicating something that will evoke an emotional response and it’s about telling a story.
Paula Scher in her talk “Great Design is serious, not solemn” explores the moments when she has been in play as serious design work that was recognised by the world. Upon becoming popular it became something she had to engage with which she then described as solemn, an act of constant re-creation without play.
The feeling of free play is a creativity that I love dearly. The act of full-blown artistic creativity takes place when a skilled adult engages in creative play. This feeling is a moment we all know with a particular feel and flow “like tossing a ball on swift flowing water: moment-to-moment non-stop flow”.
In my own words I describe creativity as feeling like waves of imagination and spirals of creativity floating from my mind into the air. Where thoughts and memories ping around, ideas flip, colours merge and everything disperses in new combinations where anything is possible.
Essay taken from a project written by Tracey Davis as part of a Critical Practice Assignment in 2016.
Bibliography
Carson, David. “Design and discovery.” Ted ideas worth spreading video, 22.39, Posted Feb, 2003. https://www.ted.com/talks/david_carson_on_design
Downes, Karen and White, Judith. Aromatherapy: for Scentual Awareness. Sydney, Australia: Nacson and Sons Pty Ltd, 1996.
Nachmanovitch, Stephen. Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art. New York, NY: Penguin Putnam, 1990.
Oldach, Mark. Creativity: for Graphic Designers. Cincinnati, Ohio: North Light Books, 1995.
| Paula Scher. “Great design is serious, not solemn.” Ted ideas worth spreading video, 21.56,
Posted May, 2008. https://www.ted.com/talks/paula_scher_gets_serious |
| Zammit, Eddie, “Georgia Rose.” No Cure Magazine Fresh Blood, issue: 11 (2016): 38-43. |
Zammit, Eddie, “Marian Machismo.” No Cure Magazine Fresh Blood, issue: 11 (2016): 56-59.