Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Be More Creative

Yes, it's a vague resolution, but it's one inspired by a number of things and, thus, must remain somewhat vague.

Over the Christmas holiday, I finally put together a collage of family photos. This isn't inherently creative, but it got me thinking about "making" things, about being artistic. Then, a couple of days ago, I visited the Museum of Modern Art with two friends. I was overwhelmed by the work of Joseph Cornell, confused by entertained by Olafur Eliasson and excited by Jeff Wall.

Jeff Wall's stuff is large-scale photography lighted from behind. In addition to Wall's work, several other photographers' prints were displayed as part of the museum's permanent collection. While I felt inspired and excited, I also felt calmed down by the photography display. Photography suits me, because it is clean. It has a deeper meaning than what you see right away, but there is something orderly about photography that appeals to me. So, my visit to the museum and the Jeff Wall exhibit, in particular, have encouraged me to spend more time on my so-called favorite hobby.

WG gave me a lovely birthday gift - we'll be taking a photography class together...so my "be more creative" resolution is already off to a good start!

In addition, a couple of birthdays ago, Hayley got me 52 Projects: Random Acts of Everyday Creativity. At first, I thought I might try to do one project a week, but I think, instead, I'll pick the projects I like and fit those in throughout the year.

My first project will be to mail copies of old letters to two friends...no one who reads this blog.. The search for the letters was an odd little trip down memory lane...but more on that in another post.

So, here's to creativity.

Happy 2008!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good luck with your creativeness, it sounds really fun! BTW, I think you have some great resolutions for the coming year. Hope 2008 is a really good one for you!