Creativity can be expressed in many ways from music, language and dance, to theater, and the visual arts. Even math does a magical dance through the aspects of time, energy and mass. When I hear someone say they are not creative or artistic I am dismayed that people often have such a limited idea of what creativity is. You don’t have to have good rhythm, or be able to write novels, or be able to draw a recognizable cat or dog to be considered a creative or “artistic” person. We all have those instincts and our brain is wired to tap into creativity if we give ourselves the prompt to express it.
Saturday Creatives is a group of people wanting to play with ideas to stimulate that expression. Anyone can be a part of this endeavor, whether you consider yourself an artist or not. Every month we will do something different that challenges our imagination and allows us to grow as creative spirits. Open to all LPAC members, this is all about fun and laughter and creating bonds with people who love to play with color, textures, paint, scissors, beads, metal, clay, glue, brushes, stencils, and…whatever sounds interesting!
On Saturday Jan 8th we met for the first creative day, and after getting to know one another a bit, we dove right into our first project: Blackout Poetry!
For those who have never seen or done this before, it is a great way to tap into your intuition.
Here is how it works:
- A page from a book or other text, (we used copies of text on office paper), is scanned for words that resonate and have meaning. Those words are circled with pencil along with any other descriptors and connector words such as a, to, you, with, is, into, etc.
- When you have scanned the whole page, go back and start stringing words together into phrases or sentences. They do not have to make literal sense. They only have to convey a feeling, idea or thought.
- Erase the ones you don’t want to keep and begin the process of circling or defining the words you DO want, finding creative ways to connect the words with lines, colors, drawings, or anything that defines the phrase or thought.
- Soon you have an interesting (albeit mostly abstract) poem that came entirely from your subconscious mind.
Below are the amazing poems that came out of the group. So interesting!!
Our next session will be on February 12th at Lost Pines Art Center from 11:00 – 1:00. Join us in discovering how to play again. If you want to be a part of the group, contact me directly at louiseplacek@outlook.com or chloe@lostpinesartcenter.org .
Louise Placek
