Meeting  2-17-02

Meeting Overview

At this meeting everyone wrote down what questions they had about inspiration?  Then we each took one of the questions and did a 10 minute freestyle writing about it. Just write whatever comes to your mind for 10 minutes. Edwin told the Celtic myth about the Cauldron of Inspiration. He also brought a Cauldron of Inspiration he made out of clay.  The Cauldron is said to contain mead, or honey wine. We had a sip of mead that Edwin brought. It definitely warms you up.  Cauldron of Inspiration

Joan read from Coeleen Kiebert's book, 'All of a Sudden', where she talks about inspiration and where her friends have found it.  Finally, we continued with a drawing activity from Betty Edwards book 'Drawing on the Artist Within. This time we used color to draw the feelings of inspiration, depression and 2 others. We ended up having some lively and humorous discussions.

Drawing the feeling

	inspiration	wholeness	depression	uninspried
Joan
		connected		stuck
Gary
		energy		boredom
Edwin
		alive		forced
Sandra
		clarity		directionlessness
Ida

Gray

• What is inspiration?

• Where does inspiration come from?

• How can I get some inspiration?

• Is there inspiration that is uniquely mine?

• Does being "on purpose" create inspiration?

• Can inspiration be found in obsession?

• How can inspiration be cultivated or encouraged?

• Can we find inspiration in our problems/dilemmas?

• Do we avoid or suppress inspiration?

Is there inspiration that is uniquely mine?

Since I was quite young, I have felt that inspiration is somehow mine, perhaps that there is a quality of inspiration unique to me. When I was interested in something as a child - I wanted to learn everything about it. I was fascinated. I couldn't imagine that everyone did not share my fascination. I liked dinosaurs, but my friend like airplanes. How could he? Anyone could see that airplanes were boring, but dinosaurs were obviously fascinating.

As an adult, I have room for the differences among people, but still feel that there is a quality of inspiration unique to myself. For each person, perhaps, it may be a way in which their native energy likes to move or connect. When we encounter a subject or object which presents a clear opportunity for this native movement or expression, we may feel inspired. Or we may feel inspired by or own selves - our aliveness.

Another way of saying this is to use the analogy of electricity. It flows as soon as there is an opportunity for it to flow. So when our native energy encounters an opportunity for expression - it can flow like electricity, if it is not suppressed.

inspiration	connected	depression	Stuck
I had been seeing inspiration as electricity and wanted to draw lightning but Betty Edwards said no! I did it anyway, figuring there is plenty of feeling in the fiery colors and curving lines.	it looks like calm and balanced. I saw an umbilical cord. energy is contained yet flowing.	All walled in, cut-off.	a feeling of being closed in, in narrow space, confined, suffocated.

Joan

• Is inspiration an ongoing process?

• How many different forms of inspiration are there?

• Will ongoing  inspiration cause someone to get depleted?

• Can a Muse be a source of inspiration for most of us?

• Is inspiration a natural state for a child?

• What results from someone who rejects inspiration?

• Does inspiration come to you without questing for it?

inspiration	wholeness	depression	uninspried

Edwin

• How can I cultivate inspiration?

• How to turn al experiences into inspiration?

• Can all experiences be turned inspiration?

• Is it more inspirational to ask questions in a group or to write them down?

• Is inspiration irrational? If so, how can I be more irrational?

• How can blocks to inspiration be worked with?

How to turn all experiences into inspiration?

I've been thinking about this in the back of my mind. I've been looking for clues to the answer since Saundra brought up the topic at a meeting months ago.

In many documenters I've seen on artists, they say he or she was inspired by a relationship, childhood memories, other artists, or a place. They said of Picasso, he was inspired by all the people he met, so he had the broadest inspiration. He would turn all the experiences into art.

So for me, personally, how to do it? I'm starting to think it's based on the irrational.  Every experience needs to be ...... something? interacted with?  I don't know, really, I'm still looking for the answer on this?

Why isn't every experience an inspiration? I suppress it for various reasons. For the sake of efficiency, out of fear, control....

Maybe look at the experiences in detail and see what's going on, or brainstorm on the topic.

How to be more irrational? That's where I got some energy with the idea of using the words from Gary's dream, "Stop! Go back. A murder has been committed" as a title for a post to Craigslist. But people may think this is strange. I didn't act on this idea.

inspiration	energy	depression	boredom
I thought of the laughter we had. the room fills with a light whiteish color.	It has the same quality as inspiration, only a different darker color. It's heavier than inspiration, applies toward work.	heaviness, dark, work, no way out, a grid of solid lines under the surface, a mesh of broken lines on top.	empty space, no effort, thought of a simple line dropping off the page, but why bother.

Ida

• Where does it come from?

• How does it differ from creativity?

  • how are the 2 distinct?

  • how are the 2 defined?

  • Specifically when do the 2 diverge from each other?

• Inspiration can happen alone, in a  dream, with another person, with many other people, with a crowed.

• What are the salient ingredients in inspiration?

• What factors/elements need to be present for it to occur?

• What does one do with inspiration after one is inspired?

• How does one work with inspiration and not smother it, lose it?

To me, Inspiration is grounded in the human experience, in the human condition. If not that, inspiration is brought back into the fold of the human experience. Somehow, "I" ultimately is deeply connected to the "meaning of life."

 

Or am I really talking about creativity? I'm confused. Can't write anymore until I get some more clarity on inspiration versus creativity.

 

My experience is that during moments of creativity, inspiration is necessarily present. It may be that one has two or 3 specific concepts/goals in mind while working, but the moments of creativity/inspiration isn't necessarily continually present. Several moments do in fact come and go, or else there would be no final work manifested. It seems it matters  little whether the initial concepts were inspiration or 'assigned', the active working towards actualizing the concepts or transforming concepts to form is the challenge and the moments of inspiration/creativity.

 

inspiration	clarity	depression	directionlessness
???? where are comments on drawings?

 

Sandra

• What is the wonderful special magic that carries me into fulfilling inspiration?

• How can I be (feel) inspired right now?

• Is it a feeling or a hope of doing?

There are sometimes when I just say "ok". I'll get this thing out and put one of those here and move this over there and then if I do this or this or that then I can glue one of these over here and out two red ones here and I'll try it out and just this that and another thing. Sew here, tuck that, add one, subtract two. Oh, this is going to work out great. and I can use it for this and it will solve this project. Now if only I could... Oh, there we go that works great. Wow that was fun and easy. What next?

 

inspiration	alive	depression	forced
it started as a mistake, the marker dripped on my paper. So I made inspiration aid.	the dot just bounced out of my pen, out and up	the feeling is spiraling down	red and black. red and black, violence and pressure.

Cauldron of Inspiration with candle

----notes------------

• human values go through stages
• concept/knowledge/elements of design/
• Sandra is acting on ideas, she doesn't plan. She says to honor all experiences.
• creativity and inspiration can have overlaps. At some points they are the same.
• Ida - goal and intension. Some people are inspired yet they never create.
• inspiration breeds inspiration
•  

Activity - drawing the feeling in color

• take paper fold it into 4 sections
• brainstorm on words that are similar to inspiration
  • energy, insight, open
• brainstorm on words that are opposite of  inspiration
  • forced, blocked, boredom, depression, stuck, self-depreciation, directional ness, dead
• in upper left corner write inspiration, lower left corned one of the synonyms
• in upper right corner write depression, in the lower right corner choose an opposite of your choice.
• draw the feeling using color,
• do not use symbols, like people, lightning,  characters, pictures, objects, etc.
• remember the feeling, let it move your hand.
•  
• finally write down any comments about the drawings on a separate piece of paper.

Activity - Problem or experience Analog

• in the previous activities we drew the feeling by itself. now we draw the feeling in relationship to others.
• do not worry what the drawing will look like.
• draw a problem, an experience or question of inspiration.
• use pencil
• create a boundary around the drawing. why? separates the experience from???
• don't censor the drawing.
• draw
• finally write down any comments about the drawings on a separate piece of paper.
•  
• this activity is supposed to help externalize the problem (or experience) so you can look at if from other angels.
•