CULTIVATE
CREATIVITY
CULTIVATE
July 2024
issue no. 10
A monthly journal to inspire a more creative life
PRIORITIZING JOY
WITH STEPHANIE GIBSON + LEAH FOX
Table of contents
A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
Hi Friends, I'm Emily Keener,
I am an artist, educator,
and the heart behind
"This Is Happiness Studio."
Over recent years, I have become increasingly curious about creativity and its role in our lives. Creativity is incredibly valuable, but I have learned that it is something we have to pay attention to, like a muscle – we have to use it and develop it. Like any vital part of us, if we neglect our creativity, it withers.
And so I am on a mission to nurture and develop those creative muscles, to cultivate a more creative life, one filled with experimentation, exploration, curiosity, play, and joy.
But, what does it truly mean to nurture a creative life? And in the midst of our bustling schedules, where does creativity find its space?
Creativity is expressed in many ways and I am excited to explore this with you further, as we discover what it means to other creative souls.
Every month, we'll take a peek into the a different creatives world, getting a glimpse into their unique practices and their insights on what it means to cultivate a creative life. Through their daily rituals to lifelong disciplines, we'll uncover the secrets that fan their creative flames. As we shine a light on each of these journeys, not only will you gain insights from them, but you'll also be challenged to reignite your own creative passions. Each creative will share what creativity means to them, how they cultivate a creative life, and will share something for you to try too.
I hope you join us on this journey as we cultivate a more creative life.
Meet Stephanie Gibson & Leah Fox
STEPHANIE GIBSON
I am an abstract painter, working in acrylics, and occasionally oil and cold wax. I have been painting with intention since early 2021.
LEAH FOX
I am an artist and a mother. Painting, creating jewelry, and movement has held me throughout my life, and deepened since becoming a
mother ten years ago.
Until recently, I painted in an attic studio in my
family home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania - the same attic in which my great-grandmother quilted.
My paintings incorporate layers of paint both through glazes and heavy layers of thick paint which I scrape through to reveal earlier colors and marks. The resulting visual texture is an expression of the comfort I find living in a house that was previously occupied by my father and before that, my great-grandparents.
I now paint in a studio at Third Story, however the themes of family history and beauty found in ordinary life continue to inspire my work.
I needed a way to spin things into gold, to alchemize within the process of mothering and becoming.
My work is my humble attempt of offering
glimpses of beauty back to this world
that generously offers so much.
STUDIOS GALLERY ART SPACE
A place for community rooted in creativity
Third Story is the manifestation of a dream. Being surrounded by beauty is a powerful act,
To be able to share our love of art and art-making with more people and to celebrate and support
other artists by giving them a venue to show their work has been truly magical.
We are bringing the healing power of artful expression to Lancaster, PA - and that is very exciting.
What does creativity mean to you?
What does creativity mean to you?
I believe that all human beings not only have the capacity for creativity, but are expressing creativity every day. It comes out in our clothing or the way we decorate our homes, or in our decision to cut wildflowers and put them in a vase. We use creativity anytime we solve a problem. We associate creativity with the arts, but I believe creativity is at work anytime we express ourselves, and anytime we ask the question
“what if” and then pursue the answer.
I think we can build creativity by being curious, open to new thoughts and expressions, and by experiencing more of the world.
To me, creativity is making something out of nothing. To express oneself. Which takes courage and commitment at times.
Creativity helps me remember.
It deepens the imprint glimpses that life offers me.
The creative practice slows me down and feels like fairy dust, and it continuously asks me
to trust myself.
How does creativity fit into your life?
I have always pursued creative outlets in small ways (casual gardening, a pottery class, elaborate gift-wrapping at Christmas), but once my children were both in their mid teens and more independent, I found myself with the time and brain space to dive deep into art-making. When my oldest went to college, there was a space in my brain that opened up and creativity exploded into it. I made painting a daily pursuit for almost a year. Eventually, I realized I needed to let my painting time be balanced by feeding my curiosity and exploring creativity in other ways.
It starts with taking care of my body. And then prioritizing what brings me joy, which feels like
a bold act sometimes.
It can slide into a moment with a little set of watercolors in the backyard or with a notebook and markers while traveling. Sometimes it takes up more space with big acrylic paintings in the studio. Or outings spent browsing bead selections and following what I am drawn to,
to then create from.
I continue to learn how to move with the moment of what is possible, and what I have capacity for, which of course is always changing.
What does your creative practice look like?
My creative practice is a balance of
“producing” and “gathering”. “Producing” is painting for the purpose of creating a
finished work for exhibition/sale.
I need to balance that with “gathering”: painting, sketching or collage for the purpose of exploration, with no eye to a finished work.
Taking a class or exploring a new medium is also part of gathering. As is walking in nature, visiting a new city, exploring a museum, talking with a friend about art, or reading a book. I try to balance my week with both producing and gathering, but I also have a couple months every year when I dedicate all my creative time to gathering. I find that when I come out of that intense gathering period, the work I produce is stronger.
I keep a studio notebook (in a 9x12 inch sketchbook) in which I record or collect much of my gathering work. This might be cropped sections of intuitive painting done on larger pieces of paper, composition studies made with collage, photos of shapes or texture noticed on my daily walk, mark-making explorations, inspiring color palettes ripped from magazines, experiments with new art supplies, annotated photos of works in progress, color mixing experiments, journaling about intentions for my work, etc. This notebook becomes a chronological scrapbook of my creative journey through the year. It is helpful to look back through and be reminded of how far I have come, but also to inspire or reaffirm the creative direction
new work is taking.
Sometimes it can be a dance party, moving color around, arranging flowers, and noticing the shapes in front of me. Actually all those things impact my creative practice. My spirit has to be well tended to.
Then, my favorite recipe lately has been being at my studio at Third Story with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers and setting a timer for 45 minutes. Then I start to see what is front of me, maybe first by sketching, making marks with my paintbrush, and see what it evolves into.
It is often hard to begin. But once I start, I get lost in the flow and all of a sudden the time is up, and I am not ready to stop. The timer just helps me to stay as focused as I can on the task at hand.
How can we cultivate a more creative life?
Try This: Thirty minute mark-making
I stole this idea from Jane Davies.
She spoke about it on the Learn to Paint podcast
.
I gather a wide variety of mark-making tools - different sizes and styles of paint brushes, palette knives, icing scrapers, sticks, things found around the house, crayons and pencils, ink droppers, charcoal, etc. I lay out a single large piece of paper, set a timer for 30 minutes, and make as many different marks on that paper as I can in 30 minutes. This is a great way to get out of your head and simply enjoy moving paint around. There are always discoveries along the way - a new color combination, a new tool, a new shape - and favorite sections (if there are any - sometimes it is just a big mess!) get clipped and pasted into my studio notebook for inspiration.
Nature is such a generous teacher. I have made many mandalas using treasures from nature : shells, flowers, leaves, corn, pumpkins, etc. A mandala is a Sanskrit word for circle, which is often symmetrical and can be a source of a pause and a celebration of beauty.
This practice really draws on the intuition to feel into what wants to go where, and to work with the materials you have on hand. It also connects you to nature, which is always good medicine.
Sometimes I do this with a bouquet with flowers that still have a little life to them. Or I gather nature in the yard, on the beach, in the woods, etc. I start from the center and work my way out. The act of finding pieces to make a mandala has been a big comfort to me, and I hope for you too
