Michelle Ward/GreenPepperPress Blog

So I've got my inspiration, the music.  Then I have my manipulatives.  I begin making some sketches, thinking about the elements I want to use for some paintings, or journal pages, or assemblages.  

 

 

I'm curious to know more about shapes and details and I want to feed my need for more visuals. I turn to books.  I go down a deep rabbit hole when I find the WoodenBooks.com site.  Lovely little books, beautifully presented, and packed with fabulous images.  BTW, they are not made of wood.  The site gives thorough previews – you'll want them all.  Let me recommend their "epic bind-ups", Sciencia,  Quadrivium, and Designa - more than 400 pages per book!  The other titles are much smaller – 64 pages each.

 

Along the way I got interested in Andy Goldsworthy.  Ordered a few books and a dvd.  This man is amazing. Poke around online and look at his installations if you aren't familiar with his work.  Love his rock formations. Hope to go visit Storm King this summer!  I had told Lynne about my interest in his work and she sent a photo she took of his cairn/cone she got to see!  Into the journal it went.

 

 

 

more to come….evolution of an idea….thoughts behind the process….

As I said earlier, the new sounds prompted a shift – in my imagination, and in my drive to create visuals that were prompted by what I was hearing.  I began collecting what I call "manipulatives".  Remember using those in grade school?  Colored rods of varying lengths, foam die-cuts of geometric shapes, and even building blocks – meant to reinforce mathematical concepts.  

So here are some manipulatives for grown-ups….organic and natural materials that will support my visions, assist me in creating compositions, and inform and inspire the new direction for my artmaking.  I even set up a little zen sanctuary at the entrance to my studio.  Love clanging the chimes as a ritual on my way in to play.

 

 

Next:  the process of evolving ideas continue

I think the universe knows when we are ready for a shift.  An opportunity presents itself and we can either pay attention, or shrug it off and carry on.  What is it that makes us engage and embrace?  Timing perhaps.  Being open minded.  Recognizing a connection, whether defined or abstract.  Our willingness to dive into new territory can be driven by many different forces, interior or exterior or both.  Why do we impulsively get distracted by a new concept when we already have enough commitments and responsibilities and unfinished work?  The universe knows.

 

 

So we are still back in September 2014 and I’m teaching Frond Chronicles for the San Diego Book Arts group.  Pnina Gold, a wonderful artist and warm soul, hosted the workshop in her studio.  She gifted me with Six Healing Sounds, a cd produced by her husband, Richard.  The intention of her generous gesture was that I would play it for my son Sam.  I learned from his website:  Dr. Richard Gold is a psychologist and a teacher, practitioner, writer, researcher, and life-long student of the Asian Healing Arts, including acupuncture, Chinese medicine, Qi Gong, T’ai Chi, shiatsu and traditional Thai bodywork. He has studied neuroscience and the evolving scientific understanding of the effects of sound and meditation on brain function.  Foreign stuff to me, but fancy and fascinating.  

 

Upon my return home I played the cd.  Immediately I had a connection to the sounds.  Peaceful.  Relaxing.  Piled on my nightstand there are collections of zen category discs – falling rain, gentle ocean waves, whale calls…. Each work their magic and lull me into restful sleep.  However, Six Healing Sounds was even better.  I listen to it every night, and nearly every morning.  It makes me feel centered, balanced, deliberate, focused.  You can hear a sampling here: MettaMindfulnessMusic.com

 

From the liner notes (Six Healing Sounds), ways to use this music:  Enhancement of mental focus and openness to artistic inspiration while immersed in the creative process of writing, creating visual art, dancing, writing poetry, etc.  They were talking to me!  

 

 

The music had a profound impact on me.  I didn't feel a gradual shift of influence; it was drastic.  I postponed all plans and projects that were on my desk or still developing in my mind, and blasted head on into unfamiliar territory.  I yearned to explore and discover more about the impressions that were forming in my imagination simply because I was listening to new sounds.  I’ve always had that sensory connection between sound and visuals.  I welcomed the bombardment of ideas that were channeling in, and was curious to know how this direction would manifest in my art.

 

 

So my crop circles and farmland got shelved for a bit….had to make room for the introduction of another new perspective, a shift in awareness.  Lots of things will eventually collide and overlap as the Evolution of an Idea continues to unfold.  More on that soon.

In the meantime, go have a listen to Six Healing Sounds and see if it resonates with you as deeply as it did with me.

With some of my handcarved stamps, I tested them for map-making.  

 

Let's rewind a bit….to September 2014, when my awareness of earth shapes was heightened and kinda became an obsession.  I was flying across the country and spied the round markings of land outside my window.  I had been impressed on previous trips to the midwest – views of divided farm land and the occasional interruption by organic terrain, but I'd never seen such extensive patterning like I did on the way from New Jersey to San Diego, most specifically on the approach to a layover in Phoenix. The polka dots of green went on for miles, then suddenly ended at the edge of rock formations that grew and grew….likely part of the formation that would become the Grand Canyon further north.  I pulled out the sketchbook and recorded some notes on my impressions, then started drawing.  I got distracted by some other thoughts that channeled in….here are the pages:

 

More thoughts on the Evolution of an Idea coming next.