Questions on art, spirituality and creativity. 6 & 7

Here's the last two questions:

6. Do you have a person you look up to who influences your art, creativity, and spirit? Why? How have they influenced these three ideas?

7. How has your use of art, creativity, and spirit evolved throughout your life?

And I'm adding number 8.

8. How has your creativity been stifled throughout the years?

Mine was stifled when I lived in a community in the city during the late 60s and early 70s, where the houses resembled each other, the wives didn't work or go to school, and they were expected to play golf, tennis or bridge. I did none of the above. Then we moved out in the country in Wisconsin in a one-of-a-kind house, a rural area of farms, a small town of diverse people. There was creativity alive and well and no one deciding how someone's life should be lived. I figured as long as what I did was decent, legal, and didn't hurt anyone, it was all right. When I went to school and got a job, friends celebrated. And when I left the school job to start a business with a partner, people said, "That's just the thing for you to do." I often met resistance, challenges and a few missteps, but I felt free to press on.

Carol

Carol Troestler wrote:

Here's the last two questions:

6. Do you have a person you look up to who influences your art, creativity, and spirit? Why? How have they influenced these three ideas?

7. How has your use of art, creativity, and spirit evolved throughout your life?

And I'm adding number 8.

8. How has your creativity been stifled throughout the years?

Mine was stifled when I lived in a community in the city during the late 60s and early 70s, where the houses resembled each other, the wives didn't work or go to school, and they were expected to play golf, tennis or bridge. I did none of the above. Then we moved out in the country in Wisconsin in a one-of-a-kind house, a rural area of farms, a small town of diverse people. There was creativity alive and well and no one deciding how someone's life should be lived. I figured as long as what I did was decent, legal, and didn't hurt anyone, it was all right. When I went to school and got a job, friends celebrated. And when I left the school job to start a business with a partner, people said, "That's just the thing for you to do." I often met resistance, challenges and a few missteps, but I felt free to press on.

Carol

6. Do you have a person you look up to who influences your art,
creativity, and spirit? Why? How have they influenced these three ideas?

If you mean a real person we actually know, it would have to be my Uncle Tom, my mom's oldest brother, the family artist. Tom even managed to spend WWI in Alaska, doing aerial photography, learning the craft that would become his career, and taking pictures of Ingrid Bergman and Errol Flynn when they came to entertain the troops. Tom was not religious at all, but he was spiritual. It showed in all of his work. He didn't sell much of his art, either painted or written, but the work was of very high quality. He just wasn't into selling himself. But he saw my creativity and encouraged me. He liked my writing, and taught me (or tried to) to work with art materials like charcoal and pastels. I even have an example of his work with pastels on my website. The photo of "Me and Lynn - 1968" has a pastel of me at four hanging in the background. Tom was the artist.

If you include people we read, etc. then I would have to include Joseph Campbell.

7. How has your use of art, creativity, and spirit evolved throughout your life?

I wrote my first poem in 3rd grade. It had to do with the spirit of Christmas being about giving, not getting. It wasn't that good, but my teacher had it published in the school newspaper. I like to think that my work has evolved as I have evolved.

8. How has your creativity been stifled throughout the years?

Mostly because it wasn't often validated. Not only was my creativity not encouraged by my family, my sense of self wasn't either. Who I am and what I write has been a hard-fought battle for acceptance. When I won the Eleanor Poetry Award in college, and told my mom, she just changed the subject. A few days later I ran into a friend of hers who congratulated me. She had managed to make it her accomplishment rather than mine (but I don't really want to go there). Most recently, the negativity about my publisher hasn't helped.

Ann

6. Do you have a person you look up to who influences your art, creativity, and spirit? Why? How have they influenced these three ideas?

As a child, the person was my inventor grandfather. I spent hours with him in his basement workshop filled with machines, slivers of metal, and cigarette butts. It was not pretty, but even today I can remember the creativity, spirit and art within the atmosphere there. For a while there were no influences, and then my children became my influence as I saw them grow in their own ways, creative in crayons and paste, deciding on activities in music, art, sports or building houses. At the present time, it is my grandchildren, author friends on the internet and my sister-in-law, Susie. If I need a cover, poster or even a design for our 50th anniversary cake, I email her with the subject title “Your mission if you should choose to accept it” and she always comes through with something fantastic, just what I need since I am a writer, not a graphic artist as she is. She is also very much involved in spirituality, in yoga, in poetry.

7. How has your use of art, creativity, and spirit evolved throughout your life? I was encouraged as a child and stifled as a young adult. The more formal religious beliefs I had acquired as a child and valued in my life and family, mysteriously left my life through difficulties and were replaced with a stronger sense of spirit. I see no space between science and spirituality, but see God as the great scientist, the creator and artist. I am still evolving although in my seventies, and feel it shows in my writing. However, expressing ideas in words is often difficult. First they come to my mind in symbols and ideas, and then putting them into language takes longer.

<< 8. How has your creativity been stifled throughout the years? >>

Working, raising kids, paying bills. I'm not saying those activities were "stifling" or kept me from doing anything I really wanted to do, but they sure took (and still take) a lot of time and energy.

Also, my creative outlets have have changed throughout the years. I might call all the children's parties I threw, home and holiday decorating, and hobbies creative. None of that interests me anymore. My house needs freshening up badly, but I lack the interest and it has low financial priority.

One day I'd like to learn jewelry making and how to create batik patterns on silk. Maybe after this book is done I'll take some classes. It takes almost every free minute I have. I'm not sure it counts as creative, either, it's too much work. I do it strictly in hopes of earning a lot of money down the road.

LC, I have had a lot of creative endeavors over the years as well. I made quilts and down coats, did embroidery, gardening, and in the fast few years made scrapbooks for my grandchildren when they graduated. I've designed houses, an office building and decorated.

My life has become smaller and less creative I'm afraid. But creative endeavors come along and writing projects present themselves.

Carol

Carol Troestler wrote:

I made quilts and down coats, did embroidery, gardening, and in the fast few years made scrapbooks for my grandchildren when they graduated. I've designed houses, an office building and decorated.

My crafts projects rarely went anywhere. For awhile I was big into painting Dr. Scholl's wood sandals. I wore them until I realized they were even tackier than the coat I posted.

I buy other people's crafts, though. I used to collect quilts and still have some hanging around.

Beautiful! I like the way everything in the room blends.

Ann

Anyone might think you are a professional, LC.

Professional what? The room is dreadful. It is from my more- money-than-brains days. If I liked something, it went up on the wall.

My house needs a doing-over, but it is low priority.

On another forum I posted a picture of my computer (it was in a thread about screensavers) and the background wallpaper was visible. One guy called it "old lady paper" and asked if there was a dish of hard candy nearby. lol.

LOL! You should take a new photo of you wearing your new coat, sitting in front of your screensaver. Just like in the lecture theatre, you would provoke a lot of interest!