Creative Boosts- Let's go to the Circus!

A friend of mine recently complained that she wasn't feeling inspired to create art and asked me for some hints to jump start her back into the creative groove. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, since I have lots of time on my hands but my creativity is coming in dribs and drabs and I want to fix that myself. Of course the best advice is to make yourself do something, however small, every day (set aside a block of time however small and consider it a must do errand) and over time you should loosen up enough to get the creativity flowing- like a muscle that needs daily excercise. At least I've heard that works. I sit staring at blank journal pages a lot.

So I'm making a list of things to do to refuel your creativity reservior, hopefully to inspire you when you are feeling tapped out and caged up by your daily routine.

1. Let's go to the Circus!
All those colorful outfits, the barrage of activity and visual stimulation, the thrill of the 'death defying feats of acrobatic artistry' etc., that gets your heart pumping! What's not to like, right? I recently had the privilege of seeing the new Cirque du Soleil show "Zarkana" at Radio City Music Hall. The background sets were fabulous, and the show was great. I kept looking at stage sets and had to remember to look at the acts. One of the biggest surprises of the show was a woman who came out on stage alone and stood in front of a pedestal with a large bowl on top. This was a sand painting dish that was projected onto a large oval screen that dropped down from the top of the ceiling so we could watch as she used her hands and blue sand against a white surface to create images from the show, one after another-- it was amazing and the audience was riveted. (I can't image the pitch to include this act in the show...describing it just doesn't do it justice!)
To take a sneak peek at what I saw go here: Zarkana

If you are in the New York area I recommend you make it a point of going to see the show if you can.

Can't make it to the circus? Why not take a tour of the Circus Museum online.


Another site I like to visit is for the Yard Dogs Road Show, a vaudeville act that I have yet to see perform, but I do love the videos on their website.


Here's a photo of two of the journal spreads I am doing with a circus theme. They are works in progress-

More ideas to come in the days ahead!