esprit robot brett

Paul Valéry said, Everything simple is false. Everything which is complex is unusable.

One of my on-going interests is creativity-  where it comes from, what it is, and how to use it to best advantage.  I came across this list HERE and think it's pretty interesting:

Creative people are different because they operate a little differently. They:
1. Are easily bored
     A short attention span isn’t always a good thing, but it can indicate that the creative person       has grasped one concept and is ready to go on to the next one.
2. Are willing to take risks
     Fearlessness is absolutely necessary for creating original work, because of the possibility of rejection. Anything new requires a bit of change, and most of us don’t care for change that much.
3. Don’t like rules
     Rules, to the creative person, are indeed made to be broken. They are created for us by other people, generally to control a process; the creative person needs freedom in order to work.
4. Ask “what if…”
     Seeing new possibilities is a little risky, because it means that something will change and some sort of action will have to be taken. Curiosity is probably the single most important trait of creative people.
5. Make lots of mistakes
     A photographer doesn’t just take one shot, and a composer doesn’t just write down a fully realized symphony. Creation is a long process, involving lots of boo-boos along the way. A lot goes in the trash.
6. Collaborate
     The hermit artist, alone in his garret, is a romantic notion but not always an accurate one. Comedians, musicians, painters, chefs all get a little better by sharing with others in their fields.
7. Are generous
     Truly creative people aren’t afraid to give away their hard-earned knowledge. The chef can give you the recipe because she knows you won’t make it like she does anyway.
8. Are independent
     Stepping off the beaten path may be scary, but creative people do it. Children actually do this very well but are eventually trained to follow the crowd.
9. Experiment
     Combining things that don’t normally go together can result in brilliance or a giant mess. Trial and error are necessary to the creative process.
10. Motivate themselves
     There does seem to be a spark that creative people share, an urgent need to make things. They are willing to run the inherent risks of doing something new in order to get a new result.
11. Work hard
     This is probably the most overlooked trait of creative people. People who don’t consider themselves to be creative assume that people who are creative are magical, that ideas just pop into their heads effortlessly. Experienced creative people have developed processes and discipline that make it look easy.
12. Aren’t alone
     The good news is that it’s possible for everyone to be creative. There are creative   accountants, creative cooks, creative janitors, creative babysitters. Any profession or any   hobby can be made into a creative pursuit by embracing and using creative traits.

Celebrate the summer with corn on the cob held by little animal holders you can make yourself!  I'd change the holder according to what you're eating, dogs for hot dogs, pigs for ribs-  like that, because I don't eat either horses or dinosaurs.  But the cool thing is I have the directions right HERE!  So go get busy!

Bronwen Vaughan Evans , from her statement-      “This body of work explores the notion that our experience is mirrored elsewhere by other unknown persons. The works allude to the fleeting realisation that, in certain moments, we share a connection with strangers who are having a similar experience. Thus the show suggests a twinning of sorts and references the concept of a doppelganger.The show consists of 30 pairs of paintings. While the paintings in each pair are essentially identical, the individual works do differ slightly. The pairs were split and exhibited in geographically separate locations. The two shows opened simultaneously, and the audience was made aware of the fact that there was another almost identical exhibition happening elsewhere, thereby actualising the feeling of mirrored experience.The geographical splitting of the works also references the idea that while two people might be looking at exactly the same image, their perception of that image will differ, and one can never fully know the vision of the other.”

Tobias Tovera:  Permutations on iron Pigment, mineral, solvent, on panels.  Gorgeous. 

Pigeon on head;  Brooklyn based artist/illustrator Gabriella Cetrulo draws and paints… and occasionally she does both on white, circular ceramics {I think they’re ceramic?!} that you can hang on your wall! LOVE!  Forgive me this choice, I originally thought it was a crow until I saw it larger-  now I don't think it matters, I still like it.

Feather art:  Chris Maynard works solely with feathers.  With a background in both biology and art, he combines science and beauty in his feather shadowbox creations.  See more of his amazing work by visiting his website.

All that bird stuff was to prepare you for this-  Although cultures around the world may regard the crow as a scavenger, bad omen, or simply a nuisance, this bad reputation might overshadow what could be regarded as the crow’s most striking characteristic – its intelligence. New research indicates that crows are among the brightest animals in the world. NATURE’s A Murder of Crows brings you these so-called feathered apes, as you have never seen them before.
  

Watch A Murder of Crows on PBS.  Yes, it's long but Oh My, how interesting!  Start now-  you'll be finished by dinner so you can talk about it there!