Quotables...

If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.  ~Toni Morrison

It seems to me that those songs that have been any good, I have nothing much to do with the writing of them.  The words have just crawled down my sleeve and come out on the page.  ~Joan Baez 

Write without pay until somebody offers to pay. ~ Mark Twain

What a lot we lost when we stopped writing letters. You can't reread a phone call. ~ Liz Carpenter

I'm traveling today...again. So I thought I would share the words of others who help to inspire me and light me up. 

Prompt #35: Write a letter. to an old friend. to your mother. your grandfather. a lover. your puppy.

playing with shadow and light

** Photo copyright KEG

So I think you already know I love to write. and create. and make people laugh. smile. and I love to inspire. motivate. and praise those I find uber talented.

I also love photography. Black and white has always been my favourite, but I'm learning to love taking colour shots as well. I adore light and shadow, though sometimes what I see and what translates through the lens are two totally different things. Take, for instance, this past weekend...

I was visiting a dear friend of mine who lives near Houston. We woke early-ish and ventured out in the "cooler hours" of the morning, parked at the edge of the road, and dragged two red velvet chairs and several children into the middle of a large field. (universal haha on us - 9:00am in Houston is NOT cooler - I actually got a bit of a sunburn in the hour we were outside - WHAT!?)

At one point the children were all off chasing bubbles, and the chairs were empty...I thought, hey, that's a great shot! The shadows and sunlight were playing beautifully off the velvet and wood and so I took a few photos of the empty chairs. Well, let me just say, the shadows were much deeper once I saw the photos on my computer screen.  Not at all the vibrant contrast I was looking for. Sigh.

The point is: sometimes, what we envision for our artistry, and what actually comes through, are completely different. For me, learning to accept that my muse sometimes has a different vision than I do can be a bit of a power struggle. I'm fairly stubborn, which means the body of art sometimes needs to be stubborn-er.
Art, aching to be born, will find a way! Sometimes we just have to sit back and let the muse flow through us and see what is created - rather than forcing the creation of something that may not be ready.

This week - write about your own struggles with shadow and light, composition, structure, arguing with your muse. Or simply write about shadows, light or both.
Happy Creating!

Partly Stormy...(Monday - 6/14/10)

I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship. ~ Louisa May Alcott

Storms.  

Emotional storms; literal storms. We all have to drive through them at times. They can be so big and blinding you quite literally have to pull of the road until it passes.  

storms are frightening; calming, cleansing; downpour, destructive, renewing. We brave through those dark hours, white-knuckled, and move on to the next challenge. Hopefully, we are changed for the better...made stronger, valiant, unafraid; electrified.

This week, write about something that changed you. An event, big or little. An upheaval, a decision - something that altered your path and took you down a new road. The challenges encountered - the storms weathered.   


 

**all linked images found through the Bing search engine

drive me crazy

Actually, it's kind of the opposite - I love a road trip.

Whether by myself or with a friend, long drives are therapeutic and relaxing - hours to think, compose (I have an old mini recorder, given to me by a man I was interviewing for my journalism course,) or stop roadside for the perfect photo opportunity.

I'm a pretty devoted nomad, which makes staying in one place REALLY really tough...lucky for me, my sweetheart is very understanding when it comes to my wanderlust, and he's happy to stay put while I traipse all over the U.S.

This summer, travels include: Dallas, Houston, Austin, my annual Seattle visit (with a nifty detour through North Dakota so I can see my midget) and an Autumn trip to Louisville to take photos of my friend and her family. Somewhere in between all of that I want to figure out how to include a visit to New Orleans, Savannah and Germany. I'm thinking something is going to have to take a back seat and be rescheduled. ugh! really? I can't do it all?

This week, write about your favourite drive. What made it memorable? Or perhaps it wasn't the drive that you found wonderful, maybe it was the destination, the people you met, a perfect sunset, fabulous meal...

Happy Writing! (Happy Driving!)

Beautiful Scorn

Last weekend, at my best friend's going away party, I met her photographer friend, Scott Horn. Scott is not only a fabulous, interesting and incredible human being, but an amazing photographer as well. His work is inspiring, beautiful, thought provoking and stunning. Here is a man who has been photographing bands for years, and only just realising the true, raw talent he possesses! I feel privileged and honored to be a part of his creative circle of friends, and would like to encourage everyone to get to know this man, for his artistry, if nothing else.

For your prompt this week, I would like you to go to Scornphoto and browse through his galleries, find something in his work that inspires you to write - his Wichita Falls Photo Outing and Dallas Outing are among my favourites, and I know my musician friends (Sir Eric! et al) will love his Guitar shots and various band sessions. I also encourage you to go over to his Facebook page and "like" it.

Bittersweet and Melancholy

So, I've just returned from a going away party/going away weekend for my best friend and her husband. Bittersweet, you know? The weekend was full of laughter, jokes, late late late hours; lots of food and beer, good friends - new friends, old friends, friends I'd not seen in four years - and today I am just a wee bit sad because the whole thing was fabulous! Now it's Monday, I'm back home, and the next time I drive to Eastwick I won't get to see my midget. Makes for a sad girl.

So today's prompt is bittersweet. You can write about chocolate, moods, feelings, bittersweet moments, The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony...time to write.

sing a song of sixpence...(Monday 5/17/10)

When I was seven I began taking piano lessons.

My first piano teacher was fabulous. She was young, hip, and enjoyed playing duets with me. I loved heading to her house on Tuesday afternoons. I loved playing the piano.

When I was nine, we moved from Seattle to Southern California, and my mother found a new piano teacher for me. She was ancient, strict, and she would slap my wrists if they fell while practicing scales. I didn't love playing piano anymore.

I had a "bad" habit of playing by ear. At the time, I couldn't figure out how she knew I wasn't reading the notes anymore, but she always knew! She would slap my hands and yell "Stop playing by ear! READ the music!"

Within a couple of years I stopped taking lessons. The soul had gone out of my music, I didn't feel like playing, and mom wasn't really into forcing me to practice.

When I was in high school I began to play again - for myself - picking out the tunes I knew by memory...a bit choppy at first, but soon those old, familiar, haunting sounds came back and I played with verve and gusto and passion! BY EAR! Soon I started composing my own pieces or playing songs I'd heard on the radio. I loved piano again. I was never a virtuoso, by any stretch, but playing was magical to me.

When I was in my early 20's my mother called...she was in the process of packing up the house for the move to Texas. She asked me if it was okay to give my piano to a local church or if I wanted her to move it again and keep it for me. I was living in California, or New Orleans, or Kentucky; lugging a piano around on the back of my car probably wasn't going to work out very well, so I told her to give it to the church.

Music has always had the power to move me - it can bring me out of an angry mood, make me sing along, dance, laugh, even cry. I have a very eclectic collection which spans the decades: from Harry Belafonte to Queens of the Stone Age; Johnny Cash to Marilyn Manson; Van Morrison to Rob Zombie. Berlioz and Tchaikovsky, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, Peter Paul and Mary, John Denver...it goes on and on. I have collections on vinyl, cassette, cd and mp3. I am constantly adding to my own infinite playlist.

For your prompt today, I'd like you to think about your favourite songs or musical compositions, even an instrument or sound that inspires you. Write about it; how it moves you; what inspiration or feelings it can unearth in you.

and p.s. I'm looking for a piano again...

Challenge. Dare. (Monday - 5/10/10)

~ Welcome back folks.Thank you for all your comments and feedback on week one. Thanks to Tiffany, Cathy and Sir Eric for the blog shout-outs, (I apologize if I've missed someone) and everyone who posted their writing in the comment section. I encourage sharing in the form of comments, links to personal blogs, etc. I do moderate all comments and will not post anything that I consider detrimental to another writer. I believe in the strength of creativity and voice, and while we all need editors at times, I do not wish for this venue to be the place for it. In addition, I respect the desire of some to post anonymously, but would ask them to reconsider so we can know who our fellow authors are. I am honored to be among you all, to witness your art and share in your process. Thank you! ~


Wisdom. Challenge. Discovery. Change. Journey. Intuition. Inspiration. Illumination. Passion. Independence. Balance. Creativity. Sovereignty. Grace. Divinity. 

This is my personal mantra, of sorts; something that gets me going when I'm lagging; it reminds me who I am and who I want to be; it is something that reaffirms my ambitions. I read it often; recite it aloud. Just words. Single, stand-alone words, but each one, for me, carries enormous punch. Favorite words which mean as much to me on their own as they do when mooshed together. (mooshed - that's one of my mom's words - mooshing and moiling. nice!)


For today's prompt, I would like you to choose any one of the above words. Or. you can choose all of them and incorporate them into a piece. Happy Writing!

Where do you find your inspiration to write?

As artists, we are always observing - viewing life from various angles. We run whispered dialogue across our lips; frame the perfect shot when watching friends, family, strangers, babies, animals, clouds, sunsets…

I have found inspiration in nature – in the heaving of the ocean, the dust of a spinning vortex, and the blades of grass blown sideways by the wind…

I have found it in music – in the sway of melody, the rhythm of percussion, the beauty of lyrics…

I find inspiration in art and sculpture, architecture, photographs, paintings and in the words of other authors.

It is my desire for this blog to fuel the fires of momentum and encourage creativity in others. (It is also a means of keeping my own imagination stoked, because we all know, the worst thing any artist can encounter, is that big-fat-brick-wall of UNINSPIRED!)

I will post a prompt each Monday. It might be a quote or a link to a song. It could be a painting, a photograph, a single word, or just a phrase. All you need to do…is simply write. Write a song, or a story, or a poem. You don’t have to share it with anyone unless you want to. Let’s compel CREATIVE to get off the ground!

Day 1 – May 3, 2010 – Your prompt is the title of a movie from 1996:

Unhook the Stars.