Archives for 2017

Rocks rock! I have always loved rocks. As a youngster I had rock collections in old cigar boxes, all sectioned off and labelled with the type of rock specimen it was. When I got to high school I took some geology to learn more and my love of rocks remains.

They’re so visually interesting because when faced with a ‘field’ of them, they are so varied in colour, shape, texture and size.

You wonder where they came from, how they were formed and how long they’ve been there.

They’re tangible. I love to hold them in my hand – I feel like I’m connected to the earth by doing so. I like to feel their weight. They are solid, strong and durable, so I guess that’s where the saying ‘Solid as a rock’ comes from.

I like that rock is old – much older than we are. It seems to me that rocks must ‘live’ forever.

What would we do without rocks? We crush them into concrete, we make counter tops with them, we mine their minerals for health, we mine their gems for commerce, and we carve them for art.

I think it’s safe to say, they’ll be with us a long time and we will no doubt find more uses for them than ever!

For myself, I’m happy to look at them and enjoy them as I find them.

*And I try not to bring too many home!

If it weren’t for the rocks in its bed, the stream would have no song.
Carl Perkins

It’s been a while since I posted a blog. There are lots of excuses – I was busy, there were other things to do, summer came and went, but I simply wasn’t inspired.

Now I’m newly inspired again – mainly due to a creative conference I attended recently. You find little nuggets of wisdom in the things that come up – like the image featured here.

It was a slide from one of the presentations I attended, reminding us that ‘creativity is just making interesting connections between things’. This is inspiration because although I knew that, this reminded me to look for those visceral connections in visuals, verbiage and styles in the creative process of a project.

Inspiration came from knowing that other creatives are dealing with the same things as I am, like hearing them admit that playfulness and fun need to be a big part of their day. The same presenter who created this slide said, “The more fun and play in my work the better people respond to the end result”. It’s OK to joke around and ‘play’ with the material to see what comes out of it. It will often bring something out you may have missed, and if not you at least had a little fun in the process.

Another message I took away was that collaboration is actually inspiration. To collaborate is to be inspired by others and their ideas, whether it’s with a client or another creative person. It reminded me that it makes my job easier to really listen and collaborate with my clients – leading to a better result in that we’re not just making something ‘pretty’, we are putting heart and soul into it and communicating that message.

So with a little fun and collaboration, the creativity and inspiration will come! Works for me!

I’ll be looking for more inspiration by staying connected with my creative community at other upcoming events.