Ideas Are Percolating

The last few months have been interesting for me. I got laid off in early October, which was convenient at the time because of my frantic drive to get Stewie and his little brothers done for Halloween. Of course, losing the money wasn't so convenient, as it makes the Halloween (and yes, the mundane) budget a little tighter. Fortunately Mr. ShellHawk has a job that pays well, and he's told me that he's really o.k. with me not working. So this has given me time to catch up on a number of lingering, time-consuming things around the house, and has also allowed me to spend some time each day on creative things. (Between looking for work and taking care of the house, Mr. ShellHawk, and our dogs.)

This blog is really the first daily creative thing I do. In my heart, I am a writer first, and all my other creative urges flow from that one thing. I've read and practiced Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, although nowadays I do it in fits and starts. One of the things she talks about is writing three pages, longhand, every morning. The pages don't have to be about anything spectacular. Just write what's on your mind without filters or judgement. I did this for at least three years, on college-ruled paper. You can imagine how much paper that wound up being. I called it my brain barf, and it really helped me to clear out some of what was blocking my creativity. Then my brain, my creative brain, went into overdrive and I was writing songs (one of which I gave to Mr. ShellHawk as a wedding gift, played by The Samurai Homeboys at our wedding.), poetry, and drawing again.

Now that my mind is back in hyperdrive, and my focus has changed somewhat to three-dimensional art, Halloween ideas are flowing like the flood attraction in the old Universal Studios park.

Initially I thought I would do a Headless Horseman and horse for this year's haunt. While this concept still interests me, it occurs to me that this won't get me creating something new, something distinct. Any artist develops their own style over a period of time, and you can tell by looking who did what piece of art you may be looking at. Take Pumpkin Rot, Spooky Blue, and Stolloween, for instance. All three have very distinctive styles, although they all use similar materials.

I also didn't have a name for my haunt. All of us Halloween geeks seem to have one, and I've been kicking some ideas around about the name. Of course, when I pick a name, the theme will have to flow from there, which kicks a number of nifty creative ideas into gear for me. I'll let you know soon about the name, as I'll have to pick soon to have enough time to build.

One thing I'm pretty sure I've decided is to do a Dia de los Muertos theme for the inside of the house this year. It's bright and festive (although neighbor V argues that skeletons are NOT FESTIVE, we agree to disagree on this one), and I'll invite the partygoers to bring pictures of their honored dead to place on the altar I plan to make of my fireplace. I bought a Dia de los Muertos craft book that I'm looking forward to diving into in order to make this happen, and the next time I visit the folks in L.A., I'll head downtown to Olvera Street to purloin ideas.

This, of course, after I finish painting my home office and writing my children's book. Maybe it'll be during...

Yes, indeed, the creative brain is in overdrive right now. It'll be interesting to see what new things will come of this!