by Stephanie
Life has been full the past couple of months. My job has
become incredibly intense, my husband and I have decided to put our house on
the market (we’re just moving a few suburbs over), we’ve had a myriad of out of
town trips, and our kids have started their spring sports seasons. In the midst
of all of the busyness, I often find it hard to save time for creativity. While
I know creativity can sometimes flow freely without much effort, more often
than not, it takes work…..work to plan, to think, and to execute. And maybe to
execute again and again and again, until it’s just right. And all that work
takes time.
So when I don’t have time to plan or execute, I do try to
keep thinking. To look for inspiration around me and keep mental notes in my
head of all the ideas I want to work on when I have time. And when my head gets full, I write them
down.
I recently received the latest edition of Click magazine. If
you haven’t seen this publication yet, you should check it out! Its pages are
full of great design, interesting articles, and of course, beautiful photos. After
I read all the articles, I go back and look through all the photos again. I take
time to study the light, the subjects and the stories that are being told. I
think about how I can apply what I see to my photography. Just that simple act
of thinking “how can I do that?” often gets my creative juices flowing. I begin
planning and pondering, working ideas over in my head. Then I look for little
snippets of time when I can begin to execute.
So how do you find inspiration? Where do you find
inspiration? And what do you do when you don’t have time to execute your
creative ideas? I’d love to hear all about your process!
And don’t forget that today is the first day of a new month
and a new theme….”home.” Check it out on our monthly theme tab at the top of
the page!
8 comments:
your self-portraits are such an inspiration. and whether or not creativity comes easy, you make it look effortless. beautiful shot!
Finding inspiration is easier than finding the time, for sure! I have notes all over my creative space with things I want to do if only the time presents itself. Mental notes don't work for me anymore! Love your selfie with the great reflection! And I've been finding inspiration in the new Click magazine too. Now where can I find some time?
Thank goodness for my ipad that is my notebook I used to pride myself on my memory!!!!'
Beautiful image and a wonderful post. Life moves at such a swift pace that I agree, sometimes it is a challenge to carve out time for doing our art. But, as you say, the mere act of thinking about it and pondering "how can" or "what if" is a creative endeavor in itself. Thanks for the tip on Click. I am not familiar with that publication...yet!
I agree, Click has some stunning photos. I do the same as you Stephanie - when I can't actually "do" my craft, I envision, I study, I think about it. I'm glad you wrote that you do the same. I really realize now that it truly is a productive thing and helping us when we are able to "get out there."
I have to grab the time I can when my kids and hubby aren't here, no TV, etc. I find it hard to concentrate on any ideas with so much going on. So when an idea comes I usually write them down, I can't remember anything anymore. And like many of the others I think about different ways to express how I feel through my photographs. But most of the time when I have it I try to go out and do just whatever happens and that usually get me to thinking about ideas and things to try.
Love the selfie, and wow that table has such good reflection (and no scratches, haha)
Such a great photo! You have so many things on your plate, Stephanie. Too often life gets in the way of our creativity robbing us of energy as well as time. But creative minds seldom stop, do they?
I can't imagine going back to raising children, holding down a full-time stressful job, a husband, and now selling your home & moving...girl no wonder you have no time for creativity. But what I see from you is always full of love & beauty. Don't ya just love that cover of CLICK, love the light and focus on the hat.
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