Idea Generator

Mt. Fuji Ballet Box

One thing I thought I would share is how I go about kicking up a creative bout when I might be stuck in a rut. Yes this does happen every now and then. Sometimes, it is a matter of feeling a bit stale in seeing work that just doesn't quite make me want to share.
I do this with my students and they take off with it.

1. make a painting or drawing no larger than 8.50 x 11 inches.

why this size? Because this can be put inside your scanner.

2. Scan it into your computer program for painting. I use Corel Draw, usually, but you might use the paint program which is installed with Windows. I do not have a Mac. . .so, you can do the same with your system.

3.Resize the artwork to about a quarter of the size of the original.

4. You can duplicate this 2 or 4 times and turn it upside down or whatever you want. Alter the drawing with the tools provided in your program. Change the color or paint something else on top of this, you know, just experiment with it until you find something that feels right.

5. After that, crop it into a square. This is where it starts to be fun. Now, you can duplicate this 4 times and meld this into another square, etc. See what you can come up with that pleases you.

6. set this up on your page to print several of your new images, which are in the format of squares. Print.

7. Now, Cut these squares out from the paper, fold these using origami techniques or in the form of a fan, or whatever you want. You will have several pieces
8. Using a digital camera photograph these  and put that into your computer and then alter these in the same way.
9. You can see this is full of possibilities. It will spark your creative mind and send it off into directions you may have never considered, otherwise.
10. Consider a theme. This can give you a starting point. I did this before thinking of Mt. Fuji. I found things that related to this topic. Japan is so on everyones mind right now. This is a great thing to do to feel as if you can actually do something about this tragedy. I think we are all connected and our good thoughts really do help.

I make handmade boxes using traditional bookmaking supplies. This is beyond the scope of this post but there are many books and classes you could take to learn these techniques of book making and box making. But, you could use and recycle a box used for something else. One of my best secrets is to use YES glue to apply paper onto another surface without curling the paper. Apply a generous coat of this glue on the surface of your paper (wrong side) not too much, then glue it onto the cardboard. Smooth it down quickly and get any bubbles out. This works well for me. I hope this will inspire you to create something new and interesting and consider new possibilities.

Blessings upon Japan