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Have I lost my creativity?!?
Is it art block or something more sinister? Do you feel, as I do, that there are no ideas swirling in the maelstrom of your mind? No matter how often pinterest is opened, closed or refreshed, nothing ever gets off the ground. Maybe it’s an art supply or materials issue, so you keep adding to cart in hopes of filling that void, but unboxing your “gifts” only brings a flicker of joy, gone too soon. Sketchbooks, canvases, paper lay barren and you don’t have the energy anymore. What happened? You were so full of ideas, bursting at the seams, and now, just a shell. Discarded and empty. This is where…
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Overcome burnout through creation
It’s been a long week, and it feels like there’s no rest in sight. The creative juices aren’t flowing as well as we’d like them to and we are tired, mentally and physically, stuck in a seemingly endless cycle of work, eat, sleep. Rinse and repeat. Although that may be manageable in the short term, just like a tiny crack in a structural part, there is a creep, slowly propagating as we apply more load and eventually, that crack becomes bigger and bigger until a final snap brings it to an end. When analogous cracks appear in our life, patching the cracks sounds like a great idea until they start…
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How lovely are the stars before dawn!
I’m not a morning person, at least not by choice. There are times where waking up early before a commute to work is…uncomfortable. It does not fill me joy to leave the safe refuge of the blankets but it must be done. There are some days (or perhaps some nights) however, where there is a sense of stillness and calm that cannot be found in the daylight hours. Soft jazz playing in the background and the comforting darkness clouds the early morning in an ethereal haze, mystical. The greatest joy is the twinkle beyond the curtains, opening up to reveal shining gemstones in the vast night sky. In the morning…
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Coronavirus: Crisis and Curiosity
When the pandemic started getting widespread, I observed that people began reverting back to hobbies that were abandoned or forgotten. But now that we are showing signs of improvement(at least here in Australia), where does that leave all the sourdough fanatics and avid gardeners? Is “back to work” synonymous with “no time for hobbies”? Will the 9-5 leave no room to enjoy the small things or are we on the verge of a shift, has this global crisis caused us to reconsider the way we live and what will happen? These are questions I don’t know the answer to, at least not yet, but what I can show is that…
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JOKER: The Impact of Meaningful Storytelling.
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Don’t forget to look up once in a while.
Its almost 9pm, I’ve stepped outside to throw out my opaque, murky paint water onto the plants in my front yard. The water splashes against the concrete and I look up. I’ve frozen, absolutely still, unmoving. All of a sudden, my eyes are fixated on the early spring sky. There are no clouds. Only stars. I feel strange. Is this what it felt like, all those years ago, before our eyes were blinded by screens and lights? I was reminded suddenly of the Tolkien story of the birth of the Eldar – the star-folk, the elves, as told in the Silmarillion. They woke up, in darkness, no sun, no moon.…
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Coronavirus: Crisis and Curiosity
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COVID-19: The Silver Lining in Creativity
A global pandemic is a big thing. With so many lives lost and such a drastic impact on the living conditions of the world’s people, there is so much to worry about and it seems that sadness is the prevalent mood on everyone’s mind. Social distancing and an almost worldwide lockdown, people have turned to introspection, and tasks that would typically be reserved for a more introverted personality have been pushed to the virtual limelight. The most surprising thing this pandemic has brought forward is an increased appreciated for art and the beauty of creative pursuits. Baking bread, knitting and painting categories that have touched the lives of so many…
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Thinking outside the gear box – engineers and creativity.
I recently started working full time. It is the first time I’ve ever worked as an “engineer” and I’ve made some interesting revelations. 1) STEM (that is science, technology, engineering and mathematics) has some pretty obvious differences to the Arts. 2) The similarities are quite striking, provided you can dig through all of technical know-how first. Everyone knows the concept of left and right brain functions, the logical and rational versus the creative and emotive. But are they really that different? Look, I’m no expert when it comes to biology or the complex inner workings of the human body but I’ve seen the creative spirit manifest in new and interesting…
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JOKER: The Impact of Meaningful Storytelling.
Wow. I can’t believe it. Only a little more than a few weeks ago, Warner Bros/DC’s Joker passed a billion dollars in the worldwide box office, becoming the first ever R-rated film to do so. So what can we glean from it’s success? That’s right, the real impact of storytelling and how it has moved people for generations. Firstly, comic books are deeper than you think. Traditionally, comics derive inspiration from the society in which they are published. The stories mirror relatable situations and ideas that are prevalent in the points of history that they belong to. These comics have been adapted to match the social and cultural ideas of…
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Coronavirus: Crisis and Curiosity
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Romance Dawn – The beginning of an epic.
One Piece by Eiichiro Oda is one of the most beloved manga series of all time, so I decided to go back to the early days of this heartfelt journey and start from the roots – Romance Dawn. The story itself is quite short, moving quickly and keeping the reader engaged using interesting panel compositions and fast paced action. The story revolves around a young lad called Luffy (fully, Monkey D. Luffy – who would become the iconic protagonist of the series) and his interactions with a pirate crew and a town. One Piece Romance Dawn by Eiichiro Oda My rating: 5 of 5 stars Ahhh yes! This is where…
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5 Ways to Get Out of a Creative Slump
We’ve all been there. The pieces you’re making feel off somehow, your scraping at the bottom of the inspiration barrel and nothing seems to be working anymore. Well despair no more, for I have found 5 ways to tackle that blocked feeling and get back to your A game! INDULGE – You know that thing that you’ve been meaning to do for fun but never got around to it? Now’s your chance to get around to it! Got an itch for Naruto fan art or a nostalgic pop beat? Go for it! We tend to forget the reason why we became creators in the first place, and sometimes, giving in…
