“Is this a maze? Can I try it?” A few kids that came over to play walked passed my drawing. To my surprise they were instantly, completely absorbed by it. They forgot about the trampoline in the garden and started looking for what they believed would be the entrance of my maze. It was a wonderful site to see and probably the most relevant and valuable feedback I will ever receive about my work.
Although of course I am curious what Cynthia Morris, the creativity coach who gave me this challenge, has to say about it. She was the one that gave me this second quarterly “connect to anyone" challenge. Her assignment for me was as simple as it was…confusing. She said: “Create art that you love.”
That had me profoundly off guard when I started working on it on April 1st. And I had a mere 90 days to come up with some kind of tangible proof of something I made and cared for. It couldn’t be more vague if she tried, but it also provided me with a sense of freedom to search for and experiment on something…anything that would make me understand why people with a passion for the arts, do what they do.
Because that is the underlying motivation of these challenges: to find out, to experience and understand why it is, that people do what it is they do. And since this first year of Pinching the Ostrich is all about the arts, this assignment was to give me the opportunity to take a peek inside the heart and soul of the artist. I want to know and feel what drives so many people to pick up a paintbrush or sculpt, compose, act, write…in short, what drives people to artistically create. Many of them do it with such tremendous dedication and heartfelt passion that I really feel that I was missing out on something.(Looking how this fits in the bigger picture: visit www.pinchingtheostrich.com)
But as vaguely formulated as Cynthia’s assignment for me was, there was also something very convincing in the way she said it. For no apparent reason, I sensed that she knew exactly why she gave my this assignment. So with no artistic background, with no experience in the field of the arts, I had but one thing to do…dive in and have faith.
This is the video report I promised Cynthia.
I hope you enjoy it. I know I have…
Take care,
Karl
ps 1: It's probaly best to view the report directly on Youtube, since the width of the blog is rather limiting.
ps 2: Oh yes, the end of challenge two also means the beginning of challenge 3. I'll post about it tomorrow.
5P rating of this challenge:
Positivity: ✮✮✮✮✮
Beating my inner critic took quite a bit of positivity. Lethal dose like in fact. Hence 5 stars
Playfulness: ✮✮✮✮
Not being afraid of being wrong, in fact, keeping that thought of the radar is quite the challenge. So yes, playfulness did play a big part here.
Passion: ✮
Not so much. It didn't require any new knowledge, any new skill or any specific insight. I just had to dive in, but that's playfulness, not passion.
Perseverance: ✮✮✮✮✮
OMG yes, getting up one hour earlier every single day to continue drawing a line...sigh. One day it was bliss, the next it was agony.
Persuasion: ✮
I didn't have to persuade anyone to do anything really. Well, apart from myself, but that's perseverance as far as I'm concerned.
Annemiek 2 July 2009
Hi Karl, great to see how you dealt with this challange. You are right Cynthia could not have chosen a better one. I think it is interesting that you decided to draw a long line going nowhere and somewhere at the same time, suppose somehow related to the road you are traveling with pinching the ostrich.
Take care, Annemiek (fellow participant 'creërend leven')
Lily 24 July 2009
Hi - I noticed your video on Cynthia's website and just wanted to say that I found it very moving and inspiring. Thankyou! I am currently exploring a similar process but less far along the path than yourself. I'm still negotiating my inner critic but I'm slowly getting to the point where I can make marks upon the page. Your drawing is captivating.
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