Oil painting of a tree in Connemara, Ireland, painted June 2015

I heard the word “amplification” on the radio and started to think about how that applies to what we do.  I think that Art is Creativity Amplified.  We take some bit of inspiration and run with it.

I recently ran across a photo I’d taken in Ireland of a tree, covered in moss and green leaves in shades only Ireland can make.  It was beautiful to me, even if it wasn’t the magnificent cliffs along the Atlantic coast, a river surrounded by hills and flowers, or a castle in the mountains.  Just a tree in a wooded area in Connemara. I had ideas, and I thought about what tools I had in my creative toolbox to make something of those ideas.  A painting, a photoshop collage and a fairytale have arisen – so far.

What I’ve learned from this exercise is that just a bit of observance can provide a wellspring of creativity if one pays attention to it and “amplifies” it.  It can be a word, a face, a seemingly insignificant thing that make a pinprick in the brain.  How we grow something that didn’t exist before is what makes the difference. I’ve even picked up the scent of something that reminds me of someone or somewhere in the past, and it has led to ideas.  Some artists will start a series of paintings on a subject or concept, likely having started from a seemingly passing thought. Writers will hear a sentence, a phrase, sometimes just in their own head, and with work and dedication create a novel.  It’s up to you to pick up on that one little thing and make it into something new.