Right-Brained

I can definitely tell that I am more right-brained. During my business life, I was not a happy person if I was not going home at night and doing something creative. Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful for my business experience and I continue to do freelance work which keeps that analytical side going. Yet I have found that I am so much more inspired since I started in art school. I love the environment and being able to be creative and utilize the "other side" of my brain. I've been telling people that I wanted to attend art school to use the right side of my brain.

In an article by Michael P Pitek, III called "Brain Differences - Creativity and the Right Side of the Brain," he explains the differences between the right and left sides of the brain. The left side is the analytical, logical and verbal part of your brain. The right side is the non-verbal which excels in the visual, spatial and intuitive.

"This is significant because many times when a person drives a car, the left brain basically checks out and the right brain emerges as dominant. The left brain is "suspended." When this happens, many people experience some of their most creative thinking. Or how about when you take a shower?….or shaving, or jogging, or swimming? Basic repetitive actions "suspend" the left brain and "release" the right brain."

No wonder I "zone out" when I'm driving...my right brain takes over!

I am glad that God created us to have one whole brain, with each part having its purpose. Yet one without the other is not useful. Each side works together. If I don't use the left side of my brain, I might not be able to balance my checkbook. If I don't use the right side of my brain, I would have not imagination and creative thinking.

So do something different today--do something that maximizes the side of the brain that doesn't get as much activity. As for me, I'm off to balance the checkbook.

Into the Blackness

During my color fundamentals class today, I spent two hours mixing shades (adding black and white), tones (adding black) and tints (adding white) to the color blue. It's all part of a four-part assignment we are doing with the color wheel. It brings to mind something Minnie Pearl once said (through a story told by Amy Grant). They were talking about the dark periods in your life that are difficult - divorce, death of a loved one, financial pains - and how everyone goes through them at some point or another. During the conversation between Minnie and Amy, Minnie asked her to think about a painting. Without the blacks, or dark shades or tones of colors, there is no depth to a painting. So those dark periods are there to add depth to your life (i.e. character building).

So as I continue to mix those colors, I think of how the shades and tones are working to create depth in my paintings...and the dark places in my life have created depth in my character.

The Art of Racing

One of my lifelong friends has amazed me with her drive to race. I knew she always had that competitive spirit within her...but she comes back to racing once again. A few years ago she completed her first triatholon and now she is tackling the Steelhead Half Ironman benefitting the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. You can see her training log at http://www.active.com/donate/tntil/MelissaMayer

So I have come to acknowledge that there are more things than the visual and musical that can be considered art. For example, my brother considers coding an art (i.e. dBase). Webster defines art as "skill; human skill as opposed to nature; skill applied to music, painting, poetry, etc." I think racing can be considered an art. God created our bodies to be in motion...if we run properly, we can easily "glide" along the road in what I consider an act of worship. It is artful in it's own right. So Melissa (or Missey as she always will be to me) has mastered the art of racing.

A picture's meaning can express 10,000 words

Now that I am back in school for my second bachelor's degree, I have found that life has new meaning for me! I am actually excited to get up in the morning to see the new things that I can create.

Last semester was my first back in school. I had a wonderful prof who was always excited about what I could create, no matter how good or bad. For my final project, we were instructed to make a book - any book of any kind with any theme. Being a photog major, I decided to find out who exactly coined the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words" and make a book out of an old camera. After researching this, I discovered that in fact, it is a Chinese proverb and when correctly translated actually says "A picture's meaning can express ten thousand words."

I couldn't have said it better.