Doodle, what a funny-sounding word. In my previous post, I mentioned that I made a couple of pieces inspired by doodles, one by my daughter and one by my granddaughter. I failed to mention that also the two birds I made based on a cone shape were inspired by a doodle I did some time ago and just ran across.
I have a small kitchen table where I and usually, either or both, my daughter and granddaughter have coffee and chat with me for a while most mornings. I have purposely set up the table to encourage doodling. I have a tin of pencils, markers, colored pencils, etc., and always a sheet of paper. I leave the same sheet of paper until I feel it's sufficiently filled; then I tape it to the wall for study - or enjoyment, or both. It's just amazing what comes out of our heads sometimes when we're relaxed and "no one is watching."
Speaking of watching, now that my granddaughter knows that I'm "watching," she has become more reluctant to doodle, or more aware of her doodling. I think it might be a matter of self-consciousness on her part, and I hope she becomes like a goldfish in a tank, unaware of my curious, eager eye.
This thought brings up another one: Have you ever noticed (well, of course you have!) that you behave differently w!hen you are alone versus when others are around you? I think I'm more creative when I'm alone and have no defined direction when I'm working with clay. Quite like doing a doodle, in fact.
Which brings me to another though: When I see the works of other artists, completely without my consciousness, I absorb what they have done in their works. When I then go into my studio and begin one of my "freewheeling" days of "work," their works influence what I do -- negatively. I think that's because it's not my style, whatever that is, but I have ruined many a potentially good piece because of having seen how someone else did something. For that reason, I'm rather careful about avoiding others' artwork. Obviously, it's nearly impossible to glimpse others' works from time to time just in going about one's day, but at least for me, it's best to avoid it as much as possible. Many times, I just let the clay and my hands drive what I do.
I think I mentioned that I recently read a book that dealt somewhat with creativity, where it was mentioned that sometimes putting constraints on a project can even enhance creativity. In fact, that's one of the reasons I tried the two cone-shaped birds I made. I constrained my free-flying mind to think "inside the box" and rely on making something new out of a simple shape.
I want to end with saying that I don't think I'm some great artist; I'm not. But I love what I do, and so do a lot of other people apparently. It's not fine art by any stretch, but it's good, honest, diligent, decent, etc., work that I'm proud of. And if one of my pieces makes someone's life even a tiny bit better, I'm happy to have had a part in that improvement. I see my little pieces as having personalities: kind, interested, non-judgmental, friendly, a little off-kilter, maybe; and I hope that's what others see in them, too. They make me smile, too, even smile back at them.
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