Did we all learn the word "curious" from this little fellow?
Curiosity: a quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in humans and other animals. ~Wikipedia
We artists are a curious bunch, and perhaps mixed media artists are the most curious of all. We constantly ask "What if?", "What can I use to...", "How can I?", and best of all: "Why not?". The thrill of exploration, experimentation, discovery, and ultimately mastery is what keeps us going, posing questions, and leaping out of bed in the morning (well, maybe not actually leaping, but a reasonable facsimile thereof!). And, we love to share our results with each other, in hopes of answering someone else's "How can I?". Of course, the Internet and YouTube videos in particular have made this information and technique sharing easier to access (Curious about how to create marbled paper with shaving cream? Make mono prints on clay? Use that Fiskars cutter you just bought? There are multiple videos on each topic). But to me, there's no substitute for being face-to-face, learning about another artist's original "wild" idea, first plans, unsuccessful results, back-to-the-drawing-board moments, retries, and ultimately, seeing her successful project realized. It's those bumps along the road which are most instructive, and which often lead off onto another creative tangent or 'accidental' discovery which can be used later (those are the best!).
We here at Your Creative Connection celebrate and embrace curiosity; we encourage it in all we do. Penny, Jeanne and I can't wait to reveal what we have been working on to share with you in October! In future blog posts, we'll show you our moments of experimentation and discovery which were born out of our asking "What if?" and "Why not?" in preparing our Studio Sessions for you, our Creative Explorers.
We're excited about what's to come, and if you're curious too and want to take the leap and explore with us, why not register for our October 11~15 retreat?
Until next time,
MDP
