Well, after weeks of preparation, anticipation, and admittedly, some nervous palpitations, the Saskatoon Quilters Guild inaugural midwinter mini retreat and personal development day at Crossmount is a thing of the past. Yesterday, I was honoured to be the opening speaker in a lineup of presentations covering a diverse variety of topics from creativity to composting, fashion to floral design, and everything in between. I cannot say enough about this wonderful, well planned and sold out event! The venue was picturesque, the catered luncheon buffet offered something for everyone including gluten free, and the committee of organizers were absolute professionals, making sure presenters and guests were welcomed and well looked after, taking active duty as fashion models, worm ‘mamas’, and quilt holder-uppers, and all the while maintaining a high spirited and fun loving attitude. This group of women are the BEST! I can’t wait to spend more time with them again, as their 2018 Fall Workshop instructor.
This month marks a special ten year anniversary for me, the birth of the fifty two pieces, which made this event even more meaningful, giving me the opportunity to share my “artless fabrications” story with a captive, but appreciative audience. To mark the occasion, I did something that I rarely do – I took a few of the weekly art quilts to share with the audience and also read some excerpts from the accompanying art journals. (I’ve also included close-up photos of three individual art quilts from the collection here for the very first time. You can see photos of the collection in its entirety, in two separate exhibitions, on blog posts dated June 2009 and March 17, 2010)
As I was preparing notes for my lecture on Creativity, I began reflecting on the first steps I took back in January, 2007, when I embarked on my self motivated creative challenge and how it changed my life completely. Taking those first few steps is almost always the most difficult part of the process, but once you get moving the momentum builds and before you know what’s happening, you’re in the middle of a wonderful adventure.
At the end of my lecture I presented a list of lessons learned along the way, and many of you asked if there was a printed version so I thought I’d share them here.
Carol’s Creativity Challenge – Top Ten Tips
#1 Take yourself and your art more seriously.
#2 If creativity is important to you then schedule time for it.
#3 Make the mundane more creative.
#4 Unplug more often.
#5 Wear your creativity on your sleeve.
#6 Remember a childhood dream or revisit an old interest.
#7 Take a class in a different medium.
#8 Present yourself with creative assignments and challenges.
#9 Put yourself out there!
#10 Maintain a sketchbook journal!!!
as always, carol
Awesome, Carol! That is amazing to think that it has already been 10 years since your journey of the 52 pieces….when you started to take your creativity seriously and scheduled it into your daily routine. It is amazing how much you accomplish, BUT you also make time for your creativity. This is not something you take for granted or leave it for the end of the day when everything else is done. Lesson learned. I am so glad everything went so well at Saskatoon. Good for you, bubby! xoxo
Thank you, Tammy. It was a wonderful opportunity to reflect back on my journey and be able to share some of my memories and revelations with a group of like-minded individuals. The commitment and dedication to creativity in the midst of a busy life has not been easy at times, and sometimes not understood by those around me, but I’m compelled to keep going as that’s where my ‘happy place’ is… and we all deserve to be happy. Love, from your bubby! xoxo
It was a great day in saskatoon! Thanks for posting this list of ideas! I am trying hard to do most of these!
Hi Janine,
It was a wonderful surprise to see you in Saskatoon. I’m glad you enjoyed the day of presentations and hope it continues to inspire your creativity. Cheers, carol