“The
creative process moves the participant from the text to a personal experience
of some aspect of its essence.”—Jo Milgrom, Handmade Midrash
Jo
Milgrom writes that the creative process is like “looking at the world upside
down from between your legs.”[1]
“Although
the task is serious, one must approach it with lightness, with a spirit of free
play, peering over the rim of childhood.
When you have completed the exercise, look with curious pleasure upon
what you have created. Interact with
each individual part. Write about the
process. Talk with other participants.”[2]
By
now, you will probably have experienced, or are experiencing, some or all of
everything listed below:
- you have basically finished your book, at least in your head, if not actually;
- you may have actually finished your book;
- you want to finish your book, but are not sure if you’re ‘allowed’ to;
- you’re lost!!! What should you do next?!
- The project is taking on a life of its own, leading you in directions you never intended, and you’re not sure how to proceed; should you stay with that or abandon it or try to harness it back to what you originally intended?
- you have to go buy another something to realize the vision, or you see that the vision is just out of your technical abilities;
- you jumped ahead, are not sure if you should have, or how to correct things in case you need to;
- you really don't like the way things are going;
- you made a 'serious' mistake and think your book is ruined.
Where
are you in the process? Has the
meditation on joy thrown you off on balance, or brought clarity? Do you have to start another track you
weren’t expecting, or help you complete the next phase of the project?
Poet
Wendell Berry has some interesting insights:
It may be that when we no
longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.
we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.
Exercise:
· Thinking
about the meditation questions, how would you ‘image’ what you have heard from
the Lord about joy?
· How
do you integrate it into the 2 previous pages?
Do you integrate it?
· Or
how would you make it different, complementary?
· Do
you need to rework anything in pages 1 and/or 2 to better capture what happens
on pg. 3?
Take
three deep breaths, and begin!
Suggestion:
You
may be clipping words or stamping them into your book. Why not try your hand at lettering! For those
of you meeting in Tyrone, I’ll be bringing a book to show you. For everyone, here are two links for ideas:
Learn
Creative Hand Lettering:
Bubble
letters:
Week 2
After
you have finished your time in the Meditation, think about how you will
visually represent what the Lord has spoken to you about regarding Hope. What images have come to mind, or what images
capture you as you look for new ones?
What symbols? What colors?
Imaginative
interpretation is another way to discover what God is saying. To do this well, we set aside normal modes of
thinking, to see things in a new way.
This is another kind of literacy.
We are attempting to make a living connection between God’s story, and
our own. Art helps us do that.
Start
looking for more images if you don’t have one at hand. You might be surprised at what grabs you, or
speaks to you. Go with it. The image
should resonate profoundly within your deep heart.
A color change may help. A current trend is
to replace traditional purple with blue during Advent, as the season has moved
away from repentance and into celebration.
In some denominations, blue is the traditional color of hope.
Execution
If you haven’t already done so, lay out elements of page one of your
accordion book, and set it aside in a sheet protector.
Lay
your base color down, or glue paper in to cover the first page; when dry, collage
your your images and words on ‘preparation,’ concentrating especially on trying
to capture what has emerged from your heart as you
have prepared this layout.
Prepare background of page 2, exploring the theme of hope. You may want to bleed over the edges of page
1 for the background, or you may want to do something totally different.
Links for some creative ideas:
Visual Journalism 101: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYbe3mmJj_s
Visual Journalism 101 Tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeXsIk28bD4&feature=related
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