creativity
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Studio nonsense
Since Jan 2025 I’ve become increasingly alarmed by the US Republican regimes manipulations of words and their meanings. Specifically their tactics of outright lies, lies by ommission, goal-post moving, gaslighting, DARVO, hypocrisy, book bans, censorship, the firing of people, random closures of government departments, the cessation of record keeping, the removal of photos/documents from historical…
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PSA about art and humanity
I write today in support of my fellow local artists and all artists everywhere. You are more important and more necessary now than ever. And it doesn’t matter that you’re not famous – what matters is that you are creating something. Art relates to our humanity like water relates to the thirsty body. I write…
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A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
Imaginary birds flew in my last post and I knew physical therapy was on my near horizon. So I did my best to think of P/T as an opportunity (see my email newsletter) and I remembered the phrase “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”. That phrase inspired the weeks work…
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Movies and noticing stuff
My wife and I went to see the movie Barbie at the Mcmenamins St. John’s Theater and Pub – a friend suggested seeing Barbie at this particular theater because it might be easier for me to hear. She was right! And this theater has a closed captioning device that sit in the cup holder and…
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The Artists Mind by Kathryn Vercillo – an interview
My longterm readers know I’ve an interest in both creativity and mental health. When I saw “The Artist’s Mind” by Kathryn Vercillo I had to interview her. Fortunately Kathryn generously responded to my questions about her new book! Clancy: What are you drinking while we’re chatting? I’m having a dark french roast coffee. Vercillo: Yum.…
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Thinking outside boxes and The Artist’s Mind by Kathryn Vercillo
This week I realized there are many cardboard box color variations. In my studio alone I count 10 different colors of brown box material. So the phrase “Thinking Outside The Box” has been on my mind and I’ve begun a new 8 inch wooden cube sculpture by painting it to look like a cardboard box.…
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Writing and drawing while being human and using a thumb
Human brains have the ability to be imaginative and creative. This ability is used, for example, when you imagine that a flat tire could happen and then, after checking the spare tire for soundness, you creatively pack the car so that if you do have a flat you don’t need to remove all of your…
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Flying pigs and being human.
Knowing how you feel, what you think and being able to talk clearly about it is an important skill to cultivate. This is true for everyone and especially true for anyone trying to do anything creative. Creativity comes from a regular habit of observing the world and listening to yourself to your own thoughts and…
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Rhythms, a doodlebug and little piggies
I recently read “Hare Brain Tortoise Mind” by Guy Claxton and was reminded of how rhythmic things like weeding a garden or doodling can be calming to the human mind. This physical neurological response to “uniformly random rhythms” is also part of the human reaction to rhythms in songs, poetry or prose – we respond…
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Flying pigs, pastries and doodlebugs
One pig leads to another it seems. On my email newsletter I shared a flying pig and what inspired it. The finished painting was called “The Plot”. That in turn inspired another pig with wings to appear in my sketchbook. Which then became a painting titled “Higgledy-Piggledy” which I also shared in my email newsletter…
sue clancy - artist 