Wow creativity growth

I have been rereading Seth Apter's The Pulse of Mixed Media: Secrets and Passions of 100 Artists Revealed  which deals with lots of good questions.  I began to ask myself some of those questions.

To quote Seth, "... the magic ingredient in every artwork is the artist.  All artists bring their own history, personality, creativity, and personal perspective to the pieces they create."

 I decided to start jotting down some of my own answers and I realize it is not what I want to be but it is very much what I am.  Of course that involved a few scratch outs as I arrived at 2014 because while I believe age is only a number I am a relatively mature junior senior citizen as opposed to a giggly young teenager.  So on THIS day,  in a couple of sentences, who am I and what do I want to say and how can I portray that?

While contemplating this I read another blogger, John Hopper who, In Talking About Creativity,  said,

"... it is individual creativity that has allowed that part of our character; I would say one of its most important elements, to develop and to blossom. Whilst it is true that we see the outside world, that world that sits outside of our immediate headspace, through the context of our culture or community, we have a much more intimate contact with this world, the one that only an individual can really make sense of. The creative individual has their own unique vocabulary of the world, their own ideas as to the senses, whether through eye, ear, nose, mouth, or hand. This vocabulary will be used to transmit to a creative outlet, which will then be added to the shared experience of the culture or community that the creative individual calls their own. This focusing on an individual creative endeavour and then of sharing the result of that endeavour, is perhaps one of our most precious human abilities."

 That fits very well with the conclusion that I arrived at.  I am looking for the good and I want to inspire others to look for the good. To accomplish that bold statement  I must cease skimming techniques and tutorials and settle down to learning the best ways that I enjoy speaking creatively.  I have mistakenly thought that what I like when I see an artist portray something,  may not be authentic to my own voice.  I also need to go back to the things I liked to do when I began crawling, and from there walk, not run into what I will eventually become.  When I grow up???  :)  Sounds deep, but it just means I've given myself permission to do what I like and not what I think I should like to do.

Three's a charm!  As I committed to the above paragraph I read another blog post about why would one pursue something that is less than good just because it is easier to settle for the status quo because  the materials are bought, the plan is made, etc.  LOL

Therefore I am redefining Creativity 101.  I'll be doing it my way!  I also want to release the passion that bubbles inside, fueled by my life experiences, my creative influences and my hopes and dreams.  I started way back when by colouring and cutting out paper dolls.  I discovered fabric and making doll clothes.  When I got my own home I focused on the fabric.  Quilts lead me to wall art and that brought me back to colouring but this time with watercolour pencils and paints.  I need to figure out how to 'do it all'!  ;) ;)

I realized that I was not making altered books because it is a lot of time and work to fill the pages.  Then I realized the book can be blank. duh!  I really like making these BLANK books. I want to be adding more fabric, thread and hand stitching to my work. Now this barely qualifies for The Needle and Thread Network but I know all of us want to grow creatively.  This is the beginning of finding the balance for mixing up fabric which is fibre and paper which is also fibres and adding threads and paints, stamps and embellishments.

ahem.  At what age does one finally grow up and quit stretching?