I am getting more and more interested in exploration of psychology of creativity and its connection with inner growth as well as self-awareness. For some people creativity is just about "making" art, the painting, the sculpture or whatever form it takes. But for those involved in creativity on regular basis there is something more once they let it take a core centre of their life. There is that power of creative life that goes beyond "making" and affect our cognitive skills. The creativity can teach us to be humble, self-accepting, face the failure and growth- all on regular basis and even at the same time! Creative cycle is the way creativity comes back to us and want us to move on, step outside the comfort zone and learn, learn and learn again...

Here comes my summer issue of Artstirrer. There is some encouragement to get your studio outdoors and dream big! Hope you find some inspiration for your summer creative adventures. Enjoy the weather and moments of summer joy!

 Failure- not so much popular subject is it? Not many posts on social media of our creative failures, attempts that do not lead anyway or turn out to be something totally different. Creative failure- does it exist? How can we redefine the failure to actually incorporate it into a creative process? First of all try to say and imagine the expression "failure" without the negative connotation. Can you? Why is our mind so resistant to understand and accept failure? Is that because failure equals rejection? Rejection of what? Self-worth, self-importance or maybe it defines us  in the way we do not like to show? Let's fail creatively!

People say that talking to yourself is a first sign of madness. How about talking to yourself about art (mad enough?) and then recording it and making a clip! Artist self-talk is the inspiration for the series "Behind the journals". So far there are 3 clips where I question self-expression, emotional release and state of mind- all having important role in a creative process. Behind the journals is more about the mind talk than picking up the brush. All because to be able to pick up a brush, open your journal and give it a start you need to talk- often talk to yourself...

I missed April Artstirrer so this one is a joined version for April and May called "Spring 2016". Very yellow as we heading towards the summer and some inspiration for your creative life with my typical sprinkle of humour.

Hope you enjoy!

Honorata

Creative life and connecting with you true artist within is so much more than sitting in your studio with paper and art supplies. I deeply believe once you had started being genuinely involved in process of making art it goes so far beyond that. It becomes your self development project and in result your life starts being devoted to digging deeper into the creative voice and it is not one off happening. It is the process of constant renewal, where you go from one stage to another all the time: ready to try, fail, accept and move on. 

Tempted for a while I finally decided to create new series of inspirational clips devoted to looking what emotions and states of mind drive the process of art journaling. Those clips are much shorted than Subconscious Collage project and are meant to play a role of "inspiration injections". I am planning also to produce those more often and build new series. Here are some questions and answers that may explain more about this idea:

When my daughter is given a set of Lego there is a creative battle in the house. Her mother (me!) never wants to follow any instructions to build what is showed on the box...and Lego doll's hair may be replaced with horse's tail. People with that mindset are called in Lego movie "master builders" as they build from their imagination, heart and passion rather than instructions. Are you one of them? Visual art is watched outside but comes from inside. The process requires a journey from what is deeply rooted in imagination to what we can actually see- colours, shapes, lines, the whole visual aspect. Making art that becomes your healing process is really about what is going on in your mind rather than what comes out. If you treat your creative process as something personal and having impact on your mental state, then start the journey from that direct source- your mind. Become the master builder...

I am not a trendy "mixed media newest supply" person. I am too lazy to follow what is on the top of "must have art materials" and have a strange tendency to incorporate random objects in my art. If you take me for a nice town, city, beach or forest walk you will get disturbed by the fact that from time to time I need to bend and pick something up (and it's normally something that majority of people would bin). So yes, walking with me is a kind of "strange experience", however my daughter has got used to that. So why do I use "rubbish" in my art- for me it not rubbish- those finds are a mixture of symbolism, meaningful randomness and purposeful appearance. Let me take you for a walk of creative treasures...

Everyone was born with some sort of free spirit- something unique in their behaviour, personality, something specific just to that one person. There are as many styles of art journaling as people and as many expressions as life stories. Sometimes it takes years or decades to "return to yourself"- to awake that spark that has been sleeping or simply uncovered. That free spirit gets covered with lots of stuff and majority comes from others but also ourselves - believes and preconceptions. I have a privilege to meet some women who joined my project of art journaling and admitted they have not created for years, some of them just started digging into their subconscious mind of past and presence. Their free spirit simply awakes, forms and becomes alive. How is your free spirit doing?