Creative Alchemy

Creative Alchemy Party!

The Creative Industries party of the year, celebrating Enterprise Week 2007.

Date: Wednesday, 14th November 2007

Time: From 7:00pm

Venue: Westbourne Studios, 242 Acklam Road, London W10 5JJ

Sponsored by Creative Alchemy Ltd, London Westside, Paddington Development Trust, Westbourne Studios, and Make Your Mark.

Join us in our giant interactive networking space, Hungamunga playspace, film, art installations from Artspace, Talkaoke mobile chat show, live painting, and dj's and performances all night...there will also be a couple of free drinks for the early birds, courtesy of London Westside and the Paddington Development Trust!

IMPORTANT: You must download and bring along the PDF invitation from the website to gain entrance, don't forget!

Awareness, ethical living & shoes

Over the last year I have experienced a gradual shift in awareness around environmental issues. I’ve always been very aware of my ethical responsibility to the world and other people, given money to good causes (usually environmental and homeless charities), occasionally given time (volunteering for Crisis, and Trees for Life), but somehow I’ve missed a few details.

I’ve usually been a bit lazy about recycling (or at best hit and miss). I’ve often decided not to notice that my mascara wasn’t cruelty free or that my shampoo came from a company not noted for its ethical trading policy (its easy to ignore, I’m very vain about my hair). I’ve used cleaning products which turned things blue, or left scary chemicals all over my kitchen counters, because I’ve bought into the myth of clean being more important than green (and haven’t realised its possible to achieve both http://www.ecover.com). I’ve also raged against consumerism and gluttony, whilst conveniently ignoring my own penchant for non-essential pretty dresses and shoes.

Reality Bites

Apparently, Casino Royale is the best Bond ever, not because of the amazing stunts, or the number of Aston Martins destroyed as accessories to the plot (three apparently), but because 007 has discovered his vulnerability. For Bond to be displaying a level of psychological realism may seem to detract somewhat from the comic book invincibility we know and love but I was spellbound. When he’s kicked or thrown down a flight of stairs he bleeds, the red-rimmed eyes tell of endless sleepless nights, and finally we watch, fascinated, as his heart is well and truly broken.

Which led me to thinking about authenticity, what connects us to each other and focuses our attention. If, instead of exhibiting weakness by allowing other people to perceive our vulnerability we in fact begin to appear more real in their eyes, and our communication takes on a deeper meaning as a result? As the new 007 illustrates, it takes a certain type of strength to be vulnerable, to relinquish the fragile shell we call confidence and just be ourselves.

Quote of the Day...

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you."

Marianne Williamson

Postcards from the edge

This week I've had several conversations about belonging. Or rather conversations about not belonging. Being marginalized and excluded or simply not fitting in, not knowing where to fit.

The culture we live in is defined by transient populations, wars, intermarriage and the cross-pollination of religious ideas and practices from around the world, so the question of identity is complex.

When I’m asked where I come from I find it difficult to answer, having South African parents, great grandparents from Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and my family currently being scattered across at least 6 different countries in both hemispheres. I’m British, but only by one generation, the rest of me being a puzzle in the making, and who knows where I’ll end up?

Ever get stuck?

I have something a little embarrassing to admit. Over the past few days I seem to have developed a bit of a creative block with writing this blog. I’ve been making cups of tea, hoovering the rug, even doing my filing, anything really to avoid the inevitable, that I have to sit down and write. So, jumping swiftly past the obvious and amusing irony of the situation, its got me thinking about where these blocks come from, and what you can do when they occur.

Things I do which make the block bigger and scarier:

Watching tv: however much I love re-runs of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, they numb my mind, and stop me thinking. Bliss for a while, but ultimately unproductive. Turn it off. Now.

Creative Sabotage or Inspiration: Kandinsky and me

What’s the worst thing we can do to ourselves as creatives? Compare our work to others? Compare ourselves to people we perceive to be more successful, more talented, more driven?

I’ve been thinking about this for a few reasons recently. The first was when I was wandering around the Kandinsky exhibition (at the Tate Modern) last summer.

One of my most powerful childhood memories is the first time I saw Kandinsky’s paintings at the Neure Pinacotec in Munich. I was twelve years old, and completely mesmerised by art for the first time in my life. It was as if the colours and shapes and sheer energy of the images impacted on me physically, and I’ve never forgotten the experience. His work still influences the way I paint and more specifically the way I relate to colour and structure in my work.

The Business of Being Creative: set some effective goals and start getting what you want

Working with creatives and creative business owners I’ve found that the biggest barriers to success are not usually those involving creativity, but rather finding the time to be creative. The day to day practicalities of running a business, or prioritising your workload can create a level of stress and confusion, leaving you exhausted and unable to see the way forward.

Effective goal setting is one of the most powerful tools to combat the confusion. By knowing what you want, its easier to define the tools and processes you need to get you there, leaving you free to concentrate on the business at hand with clarity, direction and renewed motivation.

Goal setting can be really tricky but there are a few practical ways to make it a bit easier. One of the most effective ways to do this is to use the SMART process.

The Mysterious Time...you've tried doing something, now try doing nothing

In ‘Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention” Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi talks about the period of incubation being perhaps the most important and essential aspect of creative process. Out of the stillness of this ‘mysterious time’ flow the connections and relationships which when fused, will lead suddenly to the eureka moment, clarity as if out of nothing, when least expected.

Effectively this means that what we perceive as being the work of creativity, the brainstorming, research and experimentation which occur as we explore or invent the problem in hand is merely the start of the process at a conscious level, whilst the real magic happens as the problem goes underground, into our subconscious and becomes creative alchemy.

Quote of the Day...

“In order to create, we draw from our inner well. This inner well, an artistic reservoir, is ideally like a well stocked fish pond... If we don’t give some attention to upkeep, our well is apt to become depleted, stagnant, or blocked... As artists, we must learn to be self nourishing. We must become alert enough to consciously replenish our creative resources as we draw on them — to restock the trout pond, so to speak.”

Julia Cameron