This week, I’ve been working on the October issue of Skirt!, and since the theme is Smile, I’ve been writing about playfulness. In the process, I’ve realized how little I play, what a drudge I’ve become! That’s why I’m really enjoying Free Play, which is all about the creative process and its relationship to improvisation. Not a new book, but new to me and coming into my life at just the right time. I’ve purchased several copies for friends who are starting new projects, because I think it will give them courage to go forth. And don’t we all need that?

Do you want to lower your heart rate, decrease your blood pressure and increase your learning ability and productivity? No, it’s not a new wonder drug, but some studies suggest that listening to Baroque music with its 60-beats-per-minute pattern may do just that. So next time you’re working on a poem or a Powerpoint presentation, turn on some Bach, Handel or Vivaldi. This Glenn Gould recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations is one of my very favorites.

Lots of good points in this…find the background on the post/manifesto on this blog.

Instead of shooting arrows at someone else’s target, which I’ve never been very good at, I make my own target around wherever my arrow happens to have landed. You shoot your arrow and then you paint your bullseye around it, and therefore you have hit the target dead centre. Brian Eno

I love this quote that I found on a creativity blog, and it’s so important for me to remember…get inspired by what other people are doing, but not distracted by it or worried by it or inhibited by it.

When I was in San Francisco last month, I passed a window display which stopped me in my tracks–tape, sponges, wire, pliers and scissors had all been artfully arranged in color families. At first I thought it was an art supply store but quickly realized it was a Tru Value hardware store in the middle of the city. I didn’t need a pair of pliers or a roll of electrical tape, but suddenly I WANTED it. Why don’t more businesses think about using their windows like mini billboards and displaying their wares, no matter how pedestrian, with a little creativity? We could do more of this in our own lives– make the food on the plate look like art, create a wall display of our jewelry, find the beauty in what’s at hand and what we take for granted.

I love this litte movie and wish I knew how to make one. It seems such a magical thing to turn your words into moving pictures. I’m inspired!

I’m put to shame by these sheep made of old phone sets and cords. Looking at the photo, I think “Of course!” but I would never have thought of it. It reminds me that looking at the world “slant” gives you ideas that just don’t come from viewing it head on through our tunnel vision of preconceived ideas.

Everyone, everyone, sooner or later reaches a place where all ideas and motivations dry up. I’m always looking for ideas to pack away for a gray, I-suck day. On the ISO50 blog, I found an article in which one of the blog contributors asked 25 artists and creatives how they get out of a creative rut. The answers, while they may not pertain to everyone, are still fascinating and might just get your ideas flowing again.

If you missed this PBS series on contemporary American visual artists, as I did, you can view full episodes on the Art:21website. Each episode is built around a theme, such as Memory, Compassion, Fantasy, Transformation, Loss and Desire and so on. Watching the artists at work and hearing them talk about the way they work gives you an intimate look at the creative process. I loved the episodes featuring Susan Rothenburg (Memory) and Jenny Holzer (Protest) and the opportunity to discover artists new to me like Nancy Spero (how did I miss knowing her work?!). And I haven’t even scratched the surface of this series–I’m doling it out to myself as a treat.

I love the Eye Fi memory card for my camera. Take photos, turn on computer, turn on camera, and the photos upload automatically, wirelessly. I also have an Eye Fi app on my iPhone. Find the version that’s best for you. (You can also use it for videos.)