I Promise . . . . . .

I promise to spend 10 minutes each day creating.

I promise to talk about my creativity with others.

I promise to continue to challenge myself creatively because that is how I get better.

I promise to be kind to my creative spirit.

I promise to applaud my achievements.

I promise to cultivate relationships with people who share my creative interests.

I promise to call myself an artist.

Creativity Boot Camp Day Thriteen (final day) - Smile

I could have taken a picture of a smile, but I decided to take pictures of things this morning that made me smile as I walked around the house. I have had a rough week this last week and got way behind on the boot camp and my POTD project. So here they are -

Random Shots near Sodaville, and a run in with a Mountain man -

So I took a drive up a mountain road to Sodaville - population 303. There were many beautiful vistas and not too many places to pull over. (See the blog below for a view from the top of the mountain.) There were almost as many No Trespassing signs as trees, it kinda made me laugh as I pictured mountain people with shot guns, you know the stereotypically type you see on T.V.

I stopped by the side of the road to get these shots, I was there about 5 minutes or so. I got back in the car and I noticed this old rusty pickup on the road behind me, so I waited for it to pass so I could pull out. It did not pass, it pulled in behind me. I started to take off and a hand came out the window and waved me to stop. I locked my doors, and kept the engine running. A man, with a sleeveless, plaid shirt, old straw hat, stubbly beard, and what had to be a can of chew in his cheek, approached my window. He had one eye, I think, because only one was open, and a pair of very thick glasses on. At this point I did not know whether to laugh or be frightened, all that was missing from his "outfit" was the double barrel shot gun. Apparently he had been watching me, from somewhere, and came down to make sure I wasn't up to no good.

This last shot I took with out getting out of the car - LOL

Creativity Boot Camp Days Ten through Twelve

Day Ten - Full Bodied Sky

This has been the rainiest spring that I can remember. I am so ready for the sun to come and stay. In the meantime though I am enjoying the beautiful clouds it is bringing. Out where I live you can watch the weather come towards you. I have gotten pretty good at spotting a rain storm and judging how much time I have outside before it hits.

Smooth Get Away

So this pheasant (named Phil) and his mate live in the field behind our home. I have been trying for months to sneak up on him and get a picture. Not a chance, he has amazing hearing - I caught him here taking off but it is not a great photo. Oh well, maybe someday.....

Hush

Drove up this mountain road yesterday. The view was awesome. There was not a sound but nature all around me - God's still small voice. There was a hush up there that can only be had when you are the only soul for miles.

Creativity Boot Camp Day Nine - Drizzle

So today's word is drizzle - we finally got some summer type weather in the last few days - I did not even want to think about drizzle. And the whole idea of drizzling chocolate syrup or something like that seemed like it would take more energy than I could gather. Today was a draining day and work and it sucked the creativity and energy right out of me - so this is what I could come up with - a drizzle of water from my sprinkler.

Oh well - tomorrow is another day - early to bed tonight to recharge the old batteries!

Creativity Boot Camp Day Seven - Ornament

Creativity Bootcamp day Six - Fly

Creativity Boot Camp Day Six - Fluid

 

I took this picture at the creek behind my work. It was a happy accident, one of those shots you just take along with all the others, then when you load it on your computer you think - wow wouldn't I be a great photographer if I had taken this on purpose? : )

The journal prompt to day is what rules do I impose on myself when I "create". I am not sure I have rules, I just take pictures of what looks good to me at the moment. Some days it is old rusty stuff, other days it is macros of flowers and other days it is landscapes. I don't really think I have a style of photo.

Creativity Boot Camp Day Five - Grow

The challenge to listen to some of the music that I listened to in high school took me back quickly. My favorite was Eric Clapton's "All By Myself". I was into the sad, dark ballads about love lost. I think, that if it had been in style back then, I would have been "goth" or "emo". I wrote dark poetry, and sad stories. I don't really know why, I felt alone in my family. My parent's were loving and caring, but I still longed for something. I looked for "it" in bad relationships, and never found it.

I eventually grew out of it, but it took me years. I married still looking for "it", and we all know that another person can not ever be "it". Indeed, he was not "it". But I got my wonderful children from that experience, and would not change that for the world. I have amazing children, (they are adults now). The experience of my divorce forced me to realize that I needed to be happy and satisfied with myself before I could find happiness with another. I was happily single for 23 years when my life took a dramatic turn. I left a job that I had held for 23 years, I took a month long trip to Brazil, I took a job where I supervised 12 very skilled people. It was a scary, exciting time for me. I also met the love of my life, the man that I will spend the rest of my life with. I will grow old with this man, and I know that the roads my life took, led me through many experiences so that I would be ready for this man.

I have grown from a dark, sad teenager, to a happy, loving adult, who is right now this moment, listening to "I am so Blessed" by Martina McBride.

Crearative Bootcamp Day Four - Heavy Metal

My first thought when I saw our word for the day was of the weights sitting next to my bed and under my desk at work. In this Bootcamp I have been trying to go with my first thought. I spent most of my morning trying to deside how to use the weights in a picture and a journal entry. I was at my physical therapy appointment when the ideas began forming.

The weights are near my bed and under my desk at work because my body is betraying me. Well, at least that is the way it feels to me. I am right handed, and had a fairly significant injury to my right arm15 years ago. A few months ago I noticed my arm aching, my hand getting weaker. I ignored it for weeks and finally when I could not open a jar or pick up my camera with out pain, I went in to have it checked out.

The old injury never heal properly, they are telling me.
I am getting older, I hate to hear that phrase.
I may need surgery, but we are trying physical therapy first.
I feel betrayed, I want my body to work like it did when I was 20, it doesn't.

In some ways my body is holding back the creative side of me, that frustrates me, I feel like I have enough roadbocks with out my body being one of them. I press on, taking as many pictures as I can, processing them as I can, but I can see a difference. I am firm in my resolve to not let it stop me completely, and to learn something from this experience.

The Creativity Bootcamp has been just what I needed for right now. It has made me stop and think about how I think about myself, what my roadblocks are and how to overcome both of them.

The weights will no longer be a reminder not how weak I am, but of how strong I will be.

Multilayered - Creativity Bootcamp Day Three

These are the hands of a wife, lover, friend, mother, step-mother, housekeeper, gardener, laundress, grocery-getter, employee, supervisor, lover of God, aunt, sister, sister-in-law, daughter, photographer, and artist. These are my hands and I am multilayered.

Creative Bootcamp Day Two

Today's Word - Picnic

I saw this bee buzzing around this blossom today after work, I thought what a picnic the bee's are having this time of year. No planning, no clean up, just drop in and eat, fly off and eat some more. Then I realized this is no picnic for the bee, it is hard work and it's life's work. But it is a picnic for me to watch, I have a strange fasination with bee's, I am allergic, to I keep my distance, yet I am drawn to them. They are so busy and dedicated to the hive. I love to watch them flit from blossom to blossom.

Creative Bootcamp Day One

Today I am supose to write a letter to myself about what I hope to gain from this course. I want to be challenged and get my creative juices going again. I want to take some one elses prompt and come up with my own interpretation of it. I want to see what others are doing and be inspired by them. That is all.

The word today was Ivory.