Category: creativity and learning
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On Creative Energy
Wild and Free, paper collage, 2022 Creativity is energy being put to work in a constructive fashion. Frank X. Barron I am not certain when I began thinking of creativity in terms of energy, or life force. Though, to be sure, I have long associated my own creativity with the inner experience of having too…
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Wild Symphony
Wild Symphony, paper collage, 2023 About a month ago, I decided I was going to learn to read Spanish. I had just finished reading the novel, The Snares of Memory (Esa puta tan distinguida), by Juan Marsé, and I liked it so much I wanted to read more of his work and others from that…
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Stay Close to the Cosmos
Make a Wish, paper collage, 2022 You would never love anything if you didn’t have an imagination. If you want to know who you really are, look at how you treat animals. That’s the best method of self-examination I know. The consensus of experts frequently displaces common sense. The greatest lie we’re ever made to…
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On Possibility
Going Places, paper collage, 2021 Of the various subjective experiences of creativity that I’ve attempted to describe over the years, the one that probably fascinates me most (next to the role of novelty in creativity) is the feeling, or sense, of possibility that seems inherent in creative work. An example: I flip through a 1953…
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The Nature of Belonging, Part II
Consciousness, paper collage, 2022 It is not your job to acquire belongings; it is your job to figure out what belongs to you and create extensions of its light. Some of you may remember this statement from a post (two posts, actually) I published back in June. I woke up one morning, and this sentence…
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On Imagination
The Sky Is Smiling, paper collage, 2022 To see, to hear, means nothing. To recognize (or not to recognize) means everything. André Breton I think of my art as an articulation of my inner life. That all of the scenes that take shape in my collage art (and poetry, too) also exist within me. There…
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Self-Portrait in Spring
Self-Portrait in Spring, paper collage, 2022 As I was preparing to post this collage and another one (which I’ve decided to publish at a later date, alongside a poem, methinks), I remembered that I made another Self-Portrait in Spring at this time last year. And how different it looks. I daresay, how far I’ve come…
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House of Cards
House of Cards, mixed media collage, 2021 I’ve spent time over the past several days working with Victorian cabinet cards and found photographs. What I like most about this particular medium (aside from the fact that it’s inherently playful and fun) is the challenge. If you’re familiar with cabinet cards, you know they are Victorian-era…
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On Collecting Things
When it comes to collecting behavior, I wouldn’t describe myself as a tried-and-true hobbyist. In fact, there isn’t one particular object or category of objects that generally fascinates me for long. And while I might go through phases in which I’m enamored by, say, watches, vintage magazines, or vinyl records, the likelihood that I would…
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This must be the place.
This must be the place, paper collage, 2020 This post is formatted to reflect an original journal entry. 11/10/20 Had a significant insight into my own creative process. It happened on Sunday morning, as I was having coffee and reading one of John Muir’s Wilderness Essays. Experienced a flood of positive emotions as I was…
The Used Life 