December is a month of contrasts. While it’s a time filled with the hustle and bustle of holiday activities, it also brings us the stillness and colder, darker, shorter days of the winter season.
Contrast and Creativity
Bursting with Creative Possibility
Whether you live in an area with spectacular transformations or one with more modest changes brought about in the fall, this changing season tends to trigger all sorts of memories and a wide range of feelings.
Inspiration and Genius – Led Zeppelin, Spirit, Beethoven, and Bernstein
I thought I’d share some thoughts about musical pattern, proportion, and structure in light of the hot topic of alleged music plagiarism that seems to be prevalent nowadays, most recently the case filed against Led Zeppelin and the opening bars of the hit “Stairway to Heaven.”
Four Lessons for Creative Living
As we head into summer, it’s the perfect time to pause and consider the opportunities of Arts Awareness thinking.
Awakening Senses of Spring
It’s spring! Have you noticed the feeling of anticipation and movement in the air? This is the time of year when you might get the urge to declutter your living and work spaces. For many, it’s a time of hope for new beginnings.
Imaginative Possibility
As you walk through the many museums in Arizona, you learn that the history and cultures of Native American people of the area are inseparable from their expression as artists. From various symbols to geometric designs, there are similarities that inspire you to want to learn more.
Enable Your Creativity
It’s inspiring, especially at this time of year, to see and experience the creative efforts of people who exhibit at arts and crafts fairs across the country. I recently strolled through Fountain Festival of Arts and Crafts in Fountain Hills, Arizona.
Influences and Lineages
The program notes for a recent concert called to mind the influence of other people on our personal views. We’re all influenced by others in some way. When we experience the values of others, their beliefs and attitudes mingle with our own; and over time a new vision is created even if we’re not fully… Read more »
A Leap in the Dark
Highly creative artists do their work in a world of unpredictability. They don’t force a clear picture of the end result. While they may set restrictions and principles, they don’t create such strong boundaries that limit flow or their ability to move in new, more inspired directions. They trust themselves and the artistic process.
Creative Space—A Canvas to the Imagination
Artists are open to the world around them. That openness allows them to see, hear, and feel things that may go unnoticed by others. It allows the creative space for observations and ideas to develop with artistic outcomes that are often surprising and unique.
Creativity—It’s a Mindset
Creativity is a hot topic in today’s education and business worlds. There are also a lot of contrasting opinions about what it is and how we learn it or teach it.
Fresh Start
Every time an artist begins a new work or prepares for a performance the world is wide open. There is a level of excitement about that moment that’s invigorating. It’s a fresh start.
Winter Journey
This week begins with the official start of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s a time that’s filled with nature’s handiwork—snow covered neighborhoods, icy streets, long cold nights, and short cloudy days.
Musical Theater Magic
The holidays tend to bring out the kid in all of us, and what better way to recount and experience that spirit and joy than a performance of Mary Poppins.
Holiday Music—Connecting Generations and Genres
Music is more than just something to listen to or something to play; whether we realize it or not, it’s an important part of what moves us during the holidays.
Shake Up the Holidays
Artists create unique masterpieces and, although they sometimes get stuck or experience moments when they’re uninspired, they have learned ways to expand their creativity and keep their art fresh.
What’s Really Happening in the Music Classroom?
There are many who wonder what really happens in a music classroom. What can be gained from this time spent when there is so much else to learn to create a successful life?
Celebrate!
This quote by Nobel Prize winning author André Paul Guillaume Gide was particularly relevant last weekend as the country celebrated more than two hundred years of independence.
Obstacles and Opportunity
Whether they are conscious of it or not, the artistic process teaches artists to solve problems creatively—with boldness, courage, and focus. Artists practice—they use the tools of their art form to carve a path forward so they can achieve their goals. In order to move forward, they confront problems that arise in the artistic process,… Read more »
Balance is Beautiful
A recent performance of Benjamin Britten’s opera The Rape of Lucretia made me think about the dualities of masculine and feminine and the role of contrast in creating and performing art. Artists learn to understand and use the duality of opposites in their work.
