I’ve been thinking about why I started the Studio Notes blog two and a half years ago. The main purpose was to work out my ideas about creativity through writing about it. My thinking was I would share these thoughts with others interested in pursuing their own creativity to help people get excited about their own creative pursuits. Reflecting back, every Studio Note article has this goal of sharing creative inspiration to spark an inspiration in others. So while I often share my current projects writing about my design and actual sewing process, I decided to share things that have been inspiring me on a more consistent basis in hopes of helping inspire you readers.
These words from an article written by one of my favorite authors, Austin Kleon, really stood out to me…
My books are the by-products of the process of trying to figure out how to be a writer and an artist. When I write, when I publish, when I speak, it is in the spirit of being a fellow student. I am simply sharing the things that I am learning. I not only do not consider myself an expert, being an expert seems unbelievably boring to me. Becoming an expert, to me, seems like a kind of spiritual death. A kind of creative petrification. (As my friend Mike Monteiro recently put it, “the secret to being good at anything is to approach it like a curious idiot, rather than a know-it-all genius.”)
I agree. I want to be a curious idiot. Come join me.
So I will be adding a segment called Time to Share or another creative title that I have not been able to come up with yet. I will share an article/podcast/image that got me thinking about creativity in order to inspire you to think about your creative pursuits in a new way.
Time to Share: Freakonomics podcast series on How to be Creative
I am starting out with one of my favorite things to do to learn about something. PODCASTS!!! I have been listening to podcasts regularly on my commute to work. It helps me get excited about a rather mundane task of driving. I have limited my podcast playlist to a few favorites. I use the Pocket Casts app to organize them.
Nine daily squares of purple in 100 Days of 4 Colors
One of my favorite podcasts is Freakonomics. You don’t have to like economics to be interested in this podcast. The topics are interesting and so well researched and a little out of the ordinary in what you would expect to hear about. They recently did a series on How to be Creative. Click the link above to hear the various episodes. I am working my way through all of them. I love everything about this series of podcasts. It gets me thinking. It’s a real winner.
Studio Update
As for the 100 Days of 4 Colors, I am patiently creating a five and a half inch square every day. The first 25 days focus on the color purple. I had a few different titles in mind for the completed 25 day piece when it is all sewn together. My first title idea was Lavender. I love images of fields of lavender where that is all you can see far into the distance. However now I think I’d like to change the title to Irises because they bloom in early June and always remind me of my husband because his birthday is near the bloom time.
As I am every 100 days project, I am reminded that small steps every day can create big things which is a good metaphor for a life well-lived.
See the 100 Day Project in action on my Instagram page. Just Click.