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Friday 7 October 2011

A CASE for the Mojoless & a dangerous discovery



You may not believe it, looking at the above card but I've been feeling the absence of my creative mojo over the last few days. Everytime I sit in my craft room, a sudden sense of overwhelm happens and creatively it sends me brain into shutdown. It isn't the first time I've felt like this either. With me, it's feast or famine. I either have heaps of inspiration or nothing. And apparently this is not unique to me. More on that in a minute.

Before I run away with myself, I'll explain the card. Having lost my motivation, I headed over to the CASE study challenge. All I had to do was copy someone else's card. I even picked out papers from one paper pad collection. No thought required. However, even when CASEing the card, I have found that my finished result looks quite different and to has my own take on it.

Now, I know that life has a beautiful way of pointing you in the right direction and that coincidences can suddenly appear. And just as I was in a creative ebb, a book came my way which explained it. It's called The Artist Unique by Carmen Torbus (Amazon link here). There's a passage in it which refers to the Seasons of Your Creativity. "There will be times when we're on fire with inspiration and making lots of art. And there will be other times when we're moving more slowly, feeling less inspired and not creating much." It goes on to say "I realised that these down periods are just part of a cycle, just like seasons".

Apparently it's okay to have these creative winters. It's a time to go out and refill the creative well. It was reassuring to read someone else recount exactly what happens to me. And all of a sudden, I relaxed. This week, is my lull. My winter. I've accepted it. Once I let it happen, inspiration will strike and I'll be churning stuff out again lol.

So what's the dangerous discovery as mentioned in the title? I have a Kindle. I love it!!! In seconds, I can see a book I want & be reading it. Until yesterday, I believed that because the Kindle was greyscale, that buying digital versions of art books was out of the question. I needed to see the colour pages. And what I've learnt is that now I can. On my Mac. There's a free app which means you can read Kindle books on a computer. And the digital versions of the arty books I love, are in colour. That's how I bought the above mentioned tome. And there's a whole heap of them I can buy and read at anytime, if I so choose. The temptation to just go crazy, is sooooo strong. My finger keeps twitching on the Buy button. I have very little self control and the ease of the One Click isn't helping lol.

So if you see in the news that Amazon's profits have recently soared, you'll know why.

Enjoy your weekends everyone. Crafting or not, go with the flow & relax :) Px


11 comments:

kjjc said...

I don't know Paul. Maybe you need a voice of reason to stop you pushing that buy button and I know the very person. she comes with references too-just ask Michele. I can be very restraining. Shame I haven't restrained myself lately. In fact I am typing this from under a mountain of new paper.

olive said...

also got this book.... very good. so you've gone kindle!!!!!!! oohhh jealous.xxx

Jeanne J. said...

Paul, I'm going to have to look at your older posts because if this is your creative winter then I HAVE to see you when you're on fire! Your card is gorgous! Thanks for sharing!

Kasey ~ in Oz said...

Your post made me smile, I can so realate to sitting at my desk and... nothing. I know other crafters who suffer it, it's nice to know it is Artist wide no matter what the choice of medium or creative outlet.

I often find that CASEing or even just doing a challenge will inpire my mojo back into obedience, but it usually finds a way to stray off now and then.

Cheers,
Kasey ~ in Oz

Andrea Ewen said...

Ahh, such sage advice...I can certainly attest to the creative winters...(although my regular posting would contradict that)...BUT..when I am on fire, that's when I create a multitude of projects and then space them out. Everyone has these lulls, and it is very reassuring to know that we are not alone in this time of dead space. More importantly...
I have to agree with the commenter who wants to see your 'mojoful' cards as opposed to your 'mojoless' card, certainly no lack of mojo on this one...it's simply beautiful! The lace, the vintage accents, the soft color palette...NO indication whatsoever that you struggled with this a bit! And the purpose of CASE Study is really to be inspired, not to copy fully...so your interpretation of the challenge and the card is right on....'cos it's YOURS! Well done, my friend, always a delight to visit here.

(Ugh, I feel like I just typed a short story for your Kindle, sorry! ...enjoy that treasure!)

Tracey said...

BEAUTIFUL card Paul....so warm!! I LOVE the button details...perfect touch!!

Inkyfingers said...

Hi Paul,
I love your gorgeous card - especially the beautiful textured butterfly!

My mojo regularly goes awol but it usually comes back thank goodness.
Hugs
Carol x

Jean Martin said...

Good advice! I wouldn't have thought that you are having a creative winter right now. Your card is beautiful! I do know what you mean. I have my moments as well. I call them my dry spells. Heehee. I always tell myself to step away...usually when I come back an idea comes to mind. :)Thanks for playing with us this week!

Julie said...

This is gorgeous, I've never been to your blog before, but I'll be back for sure!!! All of the elements on this card just make it a piece of art! Thanks for joining us at CASE Study this week.

Iwona Palamountain (Chupa) said...

I would never say that this card is an effect of a mojo-less crafting. It's gorgeous, it really is.
Happy reading! :)

Niki Estes said...

Paul, this is gorgeous!