Field of Gold © Aliyah Marr (6 x7 ft mural)
Have you ever noticed that the words “magic” and “image” seem to be from the same root word? A visual artist today has access to the entire history of art—to a vast museum of images from the subconscious that evoke ideas, emotions and feelings in the viewer.
I cannot always say where an image is coming from or where it is going. As an artist, my intent is to tap into what I call the “ocean of dreams” — what psychologists call the collective unconscious; a type of awareness that is pre-verbal and primarily visual in form and content. However, Jungian archetypes can only explain a portion of what is invoked during the process of painting. In my opionion, the best art uses images that defy explanation; things that cannot be traced back to any cognitive or logical origin.
Writers often speak of characters that spontaneously emerge in a novel, coming “alive” and even directing the author’s work. For me, a good painting also has a life and a direction of its own. Unpredictable and capricious, it can break free of the artist’s conscious control, and take an entirely new course. Instead of fighting this tendency, I welcome it; in fact I often set up the circumstances and environment where this kind of break can happen naturally. I look for the “happy accident” that allows me to glimpse something beyond my original intent — a chance to make the unseen seen.
By summoning the unseen participation of our collective unconscious, artist like me hope to evoke a “gut” reaction in the viewer —a feeling that defies words and logic. In my opinion, reaching that part of us is the holy grail in art. That is the magic, the alchemical effect, the distance abridged.
Recently I was asked, why did I choose to write my first book on the topic of creativity?
The short answer is: I was compelled to tell my story. I felt it was time to show what it is like to live a creative life, to show what it is like to think like an artist, and to not feel fettered or bound to any medium or technique.
I wanted to show how a mind develops through the practice of art, to demonstrate how the view of the world becomes bigger with a creative mind, and to show how art makes bridges that connect ideas, emotions, and people.
Were there any books out there that did this? No. Are there any now? No.
It is my assertion that the best artists learn to use both sides of their brains in a balanced fashion. The crazy ideas that wake an artist up at night come from the uninhibited right-brain. In order to make that concept into art, the artist has to use the discipline and skills from her left-brain. It doesn’t matter what medium the artist chooses, the path to creation works the same way. This is, of course overly simplified for the purposes of understanding. Yet, most artists agree with me, that they feel that the practice of art engages the whole brain.
When I wrote my book, it seemed that no one had ever asked a visual artist what it is like to be truly creative. Why do they create? Certainly not to help their employer or their team, although that may happen once they have already developed their creativity.
Parallel Mind is one of the few books that talks about “pure creativity,” which I define in the book as below:
“Pure creativity is an activity that has no predefined destination or purpose, while applied creativity is an activity that always has a goal or application in mind. Pure creativity can be seen as a kind of play, while applied creativity is usually seen as work.
“Examples of pure creativity include (but are not limited to): a painter who paints from his heart, a musician who creates a symphony while toying at the piano, a writer who bases a screenplay on the people she knows at work, a scientist who discovers a new law of the universe by playing with raw materials and outlandish ideas. “
“Pure creativity” is divine play, a ready entrance to the greater sense of connection with the central energy of the universe. Many people find this feeling through meditation. The practice of art (meaning any purely creative work) is one of the active ways to experience the same thing. Our society, dominated by the values of the left-brain, only permits that which is useful and gainful. It allows very few avenues to the kind of pure existential enjoyment that artists know in their work.
So, I guess my answer to the question above is, simply, that I was compelled to create a book on creativity for the simple reason that I love to create. It doesn’t matter which medium I choose; the sheer enjoyment of creating something new is what keeps me playing in new mediums, with ever new toys, and with increasing delight no matter what form the final piece takes. My books show others how to access the amazing power that resides inside them: the human birthright of creative freedom.
BOOKS & IMAGES = COPYRIGHT / ISBN
–>> read the rest of this post on the FreshAsylum blog
I know the creative mind: when you have that brainstorm, you know your idea is unique and brilliant. It probably is, but know this: many people have brilliant ideas, and they may have even had the same one as you, on the very same day!
You may think that someone has stolen your idea, but it may not be so. After all, an idea is not copyrightable — you can only copyright a tangible rendition of your idea. And here is where your idea is guaranteed to be different than all other similar ideas — in the form you develop from your initial idea.
Let me give you an example: when I was writing my first book, I was asked what made my book on creativity different from all other books on creativity? Certainly not the idea to write about creativity! What made it unique was…
–>> read the rest of this post on the FreshAsylum blog
Stefan Bucher draws a monster-a-day. Check out his intuitive drawing technique in the video below. He sells original prints of his monsters and has even made a phone app. www.dailymonster.com
Perhaps not the suit itself, but it could be performance art. Guess that depends on how courage it takes to don a squirrel suit in the first place.
 The Squirrel Mask is the perfect thing to freak out your neighbors. Just slip it on, sneak over and steal birdseed until they notice. If it freaks out people, just imagine what it will do for squirrels! They’ll never come back to your yard again. Do not wear around dogs. Latex. Fits most adult heads. |
The full article, plus all the hilarious copy from the site are on my other blog, FreshAsylum.
He slices, he dices; maybe one day will even wet his diaper. Where will it all end? A couple of robot enthusiasts who never grew up devised the first smart phone robot. Meet Romo.
As kids, we grew up watching Star Wars, Transformers, and Wall-E. We loved robots and wanted them in our lives. Romo is still young, but he is learning new tricks every day. Currently, Romo can either wander about your home and dance to music (one smart device) or you can stream video to a controller (two smart devices) and control Romo using his vision from anywhere in the house.
We’re Romotive, a.k.a Peter Seid & Phu Nguyen.
Growing up, we were infatuated with robots from TV and movies. We wanted robots that we could play with and command. So we spent our allowances on all things robot; from components, to kits, to fully assembled machines. But still, none of them had laser beams on their heads. Now we’re grown up (sort of), and you still can’t buy the robots we spent our childhoods dreaming about.
So we decided to do something about it. We intend to make the robots we always wanted ourselves. And with your help–we will.
The image above is printable and free to you. No email request or password: just download it.
Right-click or command-click on the image above and choose “save target as” (PC) or “save the link as” (MAC) to your computer, then print with your printer.
A few years ago I designed a Tarot deck. I admit that when I began, I didn’t actually believe that a mere deck of cards could have any meaning to me. I just wanted to conduct an intellectual experiment: what would happen if I randomized the titles to my paintings? Would a word placed near the image change the image; would the image change the word?
Try it for yourself. You can play the online version of my game here.
Play the Transformational Tarot Like a good friend, it is there for you, day or night. Available for Mac and Windows computers.
 One of the delights of being an artist and designer is that I can find inspiration easily anywhere. Yesterday I was shopping at Trader Joe’s. This wine bottle triggered my visual lust: I just had to buy the bottle. I didn’t care what it tasted like: I just liked the label. My architect friend who was with me at the time admitted to a similar weakness for what I may start to call “found design.”
A few years ago I had a similar experience: a designer friend and I were strolling through the aisles of a new wine store in town. We delighted in the label design, both often drawn to the same design for the same reasons. Years earlier, I remember a graphic designer who remarked that she thought designing a wine label was a plum project (pun unintended). The label on my new purchase is especially interesting, as the brand is called “Found Object.” OK, I did find it. But the reference is to an art movement in the early part of the last century. A found object is a surrealist trick whereupon the artist takes an object that is normally NOT considered art, and makes it into art. Often the artist achieves an “aha” in the viewer by turning the object over, or combining the object with others to produce a visual resemblance to another, unconnected subject. |
The term found art—more commonly found object (French: objet trouvé) describes art created from undisguised, but often modified, objects that are not normally considered art, often because they already have a non-art function.Pablo Picasso first publicly utilized the idea when he pasted a printed image of chair caning onto his painting titled Still Life with Chair Caning (1912). Marcel Duchamp perfected the concept when he made a series of “readymades”—completely unaltered everyday objects selected by Duchamp and designated as art—several years later. The most famous example is Fountain (1917), a standard urinal purchased from a hardware store and displayed on a pedestal, resting on its side.— Wikipedia
Needless to say, this little urinal-turned-fountain art-that-was-not-art had repercussions throughout the art world. Some people still react to this image even though this piece is now almost 100 years old. |
One of my favorite examples of found art is the Picasso bull, made from the seat of a bicycle and handlebars. It’s an elegant piece that takes pieces from the same utilitarian object and presents it to the viewer in such a way that he is forced to a different conclusion. |
It takes a creative mind to look at something that one sees everyday and suddenly see it in a new way. It takes an artist to transform that glimpse into a form that others can now see. —Aliyah Marr, The Art of Creativity
The image above is printable and free to you. No email request or password: just download it.
Right-click or command-click on the image above and choose “save target as” (PC) or “save the link as” (MAC) to your computer, then print with your printer.
A few years ago I designed a Tarot deck. I admit that when I began, I didn’t actually believe that a mere deck of cards could have any meaning to me. I just wanted to conduct an intellectual experiment: what would happen if I randomized the titles to my paintings? Would a word placed near the image change the image; would the image change the word?
Try it for yourself. You can play the online version of my game here.
Play the Transformational Tarot. Like a good friend, it is there for you, day or night. Available for Mac and Windows computers.
The image above is printable and free to you. No email request or password: just download it.
Right-click or command-click on the image above and choose “save target as” (PC) or “save the link as” (MAC) to your computer, then print with your printer.
A few years ago I designed a Tarot deck. I admit that when I began, I didn’t actually believe that a mere deck of cards could have any meaning to me. I just wanted to conduct an intellectual experiment: what would happen if I randomized the titles to my paintings? Would a word placed near the image change the image; would the image change the word?
Try it for yourself. You can play the online version of my game here.
Play the Transformational Tarot. Like a good friend, it is there for you, day or night. Available for Mac and Windows computers.
Those of you who followed my old blog Parallel Mind The Art of Creativity might recall this post about an artist that uses the exhaust from a subway grating to enliven his garbage bag creations.
….it’s magical, it’s what art is about. — Joshua Allen Harris
Artists don’t wait for the perfect studio, the perfect materials; they make art from whatever they find around them. Joshua Allen Harris combines garbage bags and the hot air from subway train grates and makes art.
Parallel Mindzz and The Art of Creativity Newsletter has been redesigned from the ground up to be fun, useful, and participatory. Whether you are an artist, designer, or generally creative person, it’s a great place to go after slogging away at work (or while you’re at work–we won’t tell on you) for a little creative inspiration.
If you want to develop your natural creativity — I guarantee you, if you are human, you are creative — then this site can help you do that. (If you aren’t human, well, I can’t help you with that.)
Here’s what you can do here:
Older posts on creativity and personal development may be found at:
This is the inaugural post for the new category on ParallelMindzz called Eye Candy. This is where I will put all the interesting, inspiring or just plain weird stuff that I find in daily life.
I love interactive sites; sites that you can play with, interact with, and learn from. I use Flash to create interactive games and complex web sites. You can see some of my interactive work, and my book designs on my Flash site, FreshAsylum.com.
Radi8.org is also an interactive website that is set up like a game with lots of Easter eggs (hidden stuff for the user to find). This interface teaches you how to use it as you use it. You can see some of my paintings, videos, and interactive art on my Flash site, Radi8.org.
In this audio segment, Aliyah interviews Marc Zegans who advises artists from all walks of life on their creative development and careers. Marc works with artists of all kinds and at all stages in their careers. He reveals how his work as a life coach and advisor is deeply satisfying because it is a creative process that helps others achieve their dreams. Zegans was the creative deveolpment advisor for Aliyah Marr’s book, Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity.
