The Artist Date

Ever had one of those days where you felt like your creativity was just a bit sluggish?  Or that everything had gone a bit stale, and you felt you couldn't really draw, or paint, or take photographs, or write, or any of the creative things you love to do?

And I'm not just speaking to those who consider themselves 'artists'.

It's taken me a long time to realise that not only am I an artist myself, but I am surrounded by other artists - they're everywhere. You're everywhere.

But in many ways, what we know as 'real life' begins to suck the creativity right out of us.

As Picasso said, "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."

A few months ago, a friend of mine posted a quote from a book called The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.

I liked the quote so much that I looked up the book, subsequently bought it, and now I'm engaged in what she calls a 'creativity course' (via book), and what I have found is a process of unblocking.  I don't want to be someone who is only creative on the days that I feel in the mood...if I'm to truly use the gifts God has given me, then they should flow out of a continual creativity, and it is actually possible for that to happen.

So, there are two aspects to this, two suggestions that Julia makes which I've taken on board enthusiastically.  One is to write - just write, anything, for 3 pages every morning.  The second is called an 'artist date', which is 2 hours of something creative just for yourself.  Something different from your usual creative outlet.  For some reason I avoided this artist date for a while.  Perhaps I was fearful that it wouldn't be 'good'.  But what I've read from The Artist's Way, one of the most important keys is to just splash away creatively without constantly judging it.  (My inner critic can be really helpful, but sometimes can be just plain discouraging.)

Last Friday therefore, I took two hours out for painting.  I haven't painted since I can't remember when.  I decided to paint an old brown belt I had lying around, and then since I had extra time, I just whipped out a few little mini-paintings.

I didn't intend to, but I ended up enjoying the results (and the process) so much that I documented it and the results.

Here they are, then, my new belt....

 ...and my mini paintings.

First, I started with something that was a big ol' mess and I eventually turned it into a cheerful sunflower.  Proving, perhaps, that even the ugliest of things can eventually bring joy and beauty?

Next, a few swishes with my brush and I suddenly had what felt to me like a wind woman, with a silvery-grey cloak, hair and flowing cloak waving in the winds and breezes.  It said 'hope' to me, though I'm not sure why.

Next a focused, almost too-bright sunshine.  Reminding me of South Africa (where I had hoped to go this month - but another time!), Cyprus (where I will be going this summer), and Arizona (going there in May).  Fierce, strong, hot, bright, and beautiful.

I played about with the gold and silver paints, and a Bible verse came to mind from Psalm 119, about how the Word of God gives more pleasure "than countless thousands of fine coins of silver and of gold." There's another one, too, that says "The laws of the Lord are perfect, converting the soul...more to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold...sweeter also than honey, and the honeycomb." (Psalm 19)  So some of that gold, and silver, and honeycomb, came out in this painting.

And finally, a red love heart, perhaps left over from Valentine's Day?  It seems to have some bars across it, but they fade from a darker pink to an almost pale white...almost disappearing.  I could go long into detail on that one, but suffice to say I like it. 

I like them all.  I was amazed what came out of my hand in just two hours of a new kind of creativity.  And the total cost was £3.50 (the cost of the belt and the paintbrushes).  All this glory!

It's true - you can't pay money to get this kind of joy.  But I sure had it. 

Let Love Continue.

Valentine's Day was this week.  There are many ways to approach this holiday (great joy, great grumpiness, ignore it altogether), but I love to use it as an excuse to enjoy beauty in things red, white, and sparkling.

One of my favourite things to do is have the girls over for a beautiful dinner, so we did that again this year, softening the lights in the flat and laying out little tea-light candles everywhere.  (You'll notice the Scottish flag still is a prominent feature!)

Partly to make it simple, and partly because we love it so much, our Valentine's Dinner came from the famous Boodle Bar.  So our table was set with chopsticks, as well as roses, carnations, floating candles, and cut glass goblets. 

 

 

 

For a while we just stood and looked at it.  Hayley was so excited before I opened the door to reveal the beauty within that she was leaping around gasping 'I can't stand it! I'm almost afraid!'

But she came round to the beautiful flowers....

 ...as did we all.

Afterwards we pulled out our 2010 goal lists and reviewed them all (with a little hilarity and great congratulations for those who had achieved theirs), and sat down to write out our 2011 goals.  A little belated, but we'd rather do it in February and mean it than join the madding crowds in January and be giving up by now. We're just getting started!

The girls and I had resolved to write out reading lists for 2011, so after we wrote those, we re-discovered Alice in Wonderland in my bookcase and sat reading it aloud to each other.  One of my favourite quotes of all time comes from Lewis Carroll's book:

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things: of shoes - and ships - and sealing wax - of cabbages - and kings - and why the sea is boiling hot -and whether pigs have wings."

May you find beauty in all these things!

Beauty And Capability

Ever since I saw these I have loved the idea of having a camera bag that is not big, black, and bulky.  As much as I love my Lowepro Slingshot (if you have a variety of equipment and need to access it quickly, that bag is the dream), it's not exactly the kind of bag I want to take with me when I'm carrying my camera and then go out to dinner.  Or into any beautiful building really!

So this handbag from Jill-e does everything you could want it to as a camera bag - and does it beautifully.

I decided to go with the handpainted one, to give it a little flair. 

Just to show you the kind of room that's in here - I can fit a DSLR with 50mm lens attached, a wide angle 10-22mm, 24-70mm, and an external flash.  Plus a purse and my iphone and several other bits and pieces.

In the Bible, when the Israelites were making the things associated with the temple in which they would worship God, they were instructed to make garments "for glory and for beauty" (Exodus 28.2).  There were settings of gold, and thread of blue, purple, and scarlet.  There were shoulder straps and braided gold cord and precious stones.  It wasn't just about making garments of a certain size, or for a particular purpose.  They were meant to bring glory to God and be beautiful, too. 

Now that's my idea of good handiwork. 

Have Yourself A Macro Christmas

One of the things I love the most about snow and ice is the exceptional beauty in miniature that appears in so many different ways.  Here in Scotland we have had several feet of snow, frozen ice, fog, temperatures of -19 C, and rain...or some combination of all these, many times in the one day.

And I love getting up close - sometimes very very close - to that beauty, because it reminds me that all this beauty was designed by a Great Designer.

In photography we call that 'macro' - or 'close up' photography.  Let me encourage you to get very, very close up to the creation this week.  

 

After all, there is a molecule in the human body called laminin, which literally holds our bodies together.  And if you looked very, very closely, you would see that laminin is in the shape of a cross.

Now isn't that beautiful.  Happy Christmas.

Reconnecting Beauty With Truth

"In the last hundred years, we've started to reconnect beauty with truth, and I think Makoto's work represents a fusion of that."   

-Alissa Wilkinson, Curator Cultural Clinic

Makoto Fujimura - The Art of "The Four Holy Gospels" from Crossway on Vimeo.

Let's Hear It For The Red, White, and Black!

It's always a beautiful day at Reyburn Photography when our KISS wedding albums arrive!

Helen & Darren's wedding was in red, white, and black. The 10x10 album and all the little mini albums went together so well we had to blog about it!

They had a big album...


...and a whole pile of little mini albums.


It's cold here in Scotland (let's rephrase that: the air is like ice), but fortunately all these albums came with protective album covers.


Don't they look cute in their little jackets?

This next photo is a nod to the KISS team, all of whom are stellar, fun people with really cool job titles like "Ambassador of Hotness" and "Helpful Hottie". I thought there was someone called the Bookbinding Badass, but he has been replaced by the Book-Building Black Belt. Either I made that title up in my head, or the black belt can really kick ass!

Anyway, they're great people and will help you no matter where you contact them from, even a little red British phone booth.

Here are the bride and groom with all their guests, most of whom went with the colour scheme. Very impressive!
Congratulations again to a beautiful couple, who are now the proud owners of some very beautiful albums!