Jump-starting Creativity

Old World Still Life with a Twist

Some days I feel filled with creative new ideas for my work. Other days I feel like I’ve got nothing—my creative well is dry.

At those times when I feel my creative well is dry, I use a variety of methods to spark new ideas.

Jump-starting Creativity

I often look for photo assignments from books, articles or from one of my favorite sources of assignments, Douglas Beasley’s Vision Quest Assignment Cards. This week I picked a random Vision Quest Assignment Card to spark new ideas. I drew this card:

“Gather two pieces of fruit and one object of your own choice and make a classic still life but in a modern unexpected context.”

The day after I drew the card I perused the produce section at the grocery store for 2 pieces of fruit that I could use in a still life. Looking around I decided to pick up 2 lovely bright yellow lemons for my still life. For some reason their vivid yellow color spoke to me. I had no idea how I would use them or what other object I would include in my composition.

All I knew was that the bright cheerful lemons made me happy. I bought them, brought them, home and set them on the counter. In the evening I began thinking of how I might create a still life. I thought of using some bright blue cloth napkins in the still life as I love the combination of cobalt blue and lemon yellow in compositions.

I also thought that a small clear glass pitcher next to the lemons would be interesting. The problem was that I didn’t have a small clear glass pitcher and I didn’t want to go out and buy one just to use as a prop in a photograph. I decided to sleep on it and see if any new ideas emerged the next morning.

The next morning no new ideas emerged. I decided to start setting up the still life. I opened my kitchen cupboards to see what other object I might choose to use along with the lemons and the blue cloth napkin. My eye landed on a lovely cobalt blue gravy dish that had an old-fashioned feel to it and lovely graceful curves. Yes! This could be interesting.

First Still Life Setup at my house – too much blue

I set up my first still life using a blue cloth napkin as a base, placing the blue gravy dish in back and the 2 lemons in front. It was OK but I wasn’t thrilled with it. As I looked at the photos I had made, I realized that I wanted to create more of an old world look to my still life.

I re-staged it and made more photos. Ah… that looks more like what I had in mind.

“The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.”
― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles

But as I re-read the Vision Quest card I noticed the words, “in a modern unexpected context.” There was nothing modern or unexpected about the context of my still life. I began scanning the environment for ideas on how to create a “modern unexpected context.”

My first idea was unique but didn’t work for me—I thought about setting up the still life on my bed. It was an unexpected context but it I couldn’t figure out any reason to have a still life with lemons and a blue dish on the bed.

I let go of thinking about a modern unexpected context and did some chores around the house. Suddenly I thought of using the tablet computer that I often use to display online recipes while I’m cooking in the kitchen. What if I found a photograph of lemons in a recipe blog and had that displayed on the tablet in the background of the still life on the tablet computer? The juxtapositioning of the tablet computer with the old world look I envisioned might be interesting and a little startling.

I tried making some photos adding the tablet computer to the still life and I liked the results but the photos still didn’t have the old world look that I was looking for. I decided to pack up my props and take them to my daughter’s house to take advantage of the warm clay paint on her walls and the way the light from the small windows creates just the kind of side light or back light that I like.

At the end of the day I was delighted with the exercise and with the photographs that I made.

Sometimes creativity needs a jump-start. The important thing is to make time to do the work. Setting your intention and when your well of ideas is dry, finding a little jump-start from something like assignment cards can unlock your unconscious and let your creativity come forth.

May you walk in beauty.

Note: The photo at the top of this blog post is the one I like the best for the assignment. It was made at my daughter’s house using a wood cutting board as a base against the dark clay wall color. Other images that I made along the way are also included in this post so that you can see how one plays with ideas and tries a lot of ways to do things before finding one that works.

Made at my house – edited to add dark textures but light wasn’t quite right

Made at my daughter’s house without the tablet computer – loved the wood cutting board base but wall color not dark enough, light not quite right

First photo made with tablet computer at my house

A totally different still life made at my house

Love the classic colors of this – made at my daughter’s house.