Photo of the day: Paris for Inspiration

Street Scene, Paris

Photograph by Brian Yen

I was searching through pictures to share with you, and it took me a while to get to this one, which just took my breath away.  At first glance, there isn't much to it, but if you look closely, you can see why Paris is a dreamy city.

Look at those buildings.  I just love the architecture (not that I know much about architectural terms or anything).  The buildings are old, yet have character and charm.  They are what I think of when I think of Paris: old yet delicate, with beautiful detail.  The city has a romantic aire to it, like you could walk around all day and feel in love.

This is the kind of art I want to create: old, yet delicate, with beautiful detail.  Pieces of furniture, photos, decor, that evoke emotion. My dream is to bring that to life.

Does this call for a trip to Paris for inspiration? Yes please! ;)

Picasso Thursday - Keeping your Creativity

Every child is an artist.  The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.  

~Pablo Picasso

I love this quote.  How true is it that the older we get, the less creative we are?  I remember when I was kid I made things out of everything.  Thinking back I am pretty impressed at stuff I created.  I made little sculptures out of aluminum foil.  I remember taking cardboard toilet paper rolls and making them into birds. I handmade cards for my parents out of every material you can think of to create little masterpieces. 

Nowadays, I can barely put together an outfit. Why do we get so (sorry to say it) boring as we get older? Is it because we have taxes and house cleaning and all those serious (insert very serious face), grown up things to worry about? And if so, how can we get our creativity back? 

When we are kids, we spend most of our time in a creative mindset.  We are always seeing new things and making up stories in our heads.  We live in our own little creative world.  So it's no wonder we can get those creative juices flowing! 

Maybe as adults, we need to cut out some time to just be free to think and explore and discover and create. 

Here are some exercises to get the creative juices flowing: 

• go somewhere that inspires you - the beach, woods, etc.

• music!!

• free writing: get out a piece of paper and write down the first things that come to your mind.  let your mind go free and see what comes out (also very therapeutic)

• work on at least one creative project a week, even if it's small

Persevere

I don't know how many of you know this, but this is probably my third try at getting a little business going.  I often will get an idea, get super excited about it, and then because of fear or insecurity will drop it shortly afterwards.  For some reason, the idea of having my own creative business won't leave me alone.  There have always been two problems standing in my way of this. The first problem has always been that I cant decide what to do.  I just love doing so many different things, how can I commit to just one of them? Out of that has come Flossy George Designs.  With this idea, I am free to design and create whatever I want.

Another problem has been my perfectionist personality.  I never knew I was a perfectionist until someone told me.  I still didn't believe it after they said it... I mean we are talking about Cori here... the girl who is pretty sloppy, can be a little lazy at times, and is just generally pretty laid back.  But I did realize that all of that stuff doesn't discredit being a perfectionist.  I am a perfectionist in that I will not start anything until I am 100% certain it is going to be perfect and a success right out the door.  Well, as many of you know, that is just impossible.  My goal here is to modify and improve as I go along.  So what you see today, may be totally different and better in a few years.

With lots of prayer, a realization that I need to be persistent to do what I want and to put aside my fears along with my perfectionism, I am progressing with Flossy G. Finances are also posing a problem and I suppose they always will.  I am praying for God's provision in this, that soon I will be able to get some cash flow to start creating.