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Dear Friends:
What is creativity and who is blessed with it? Where does it come from? How do we access this powerful resource and when do we put it to use?
According to Webster's Dictionary, the definition of creativity is artistic or intellectual inventiveness. Creativity is marked by the ability or power to create or bring into existence, to invest with a new form, to produce through imaginative skill, to make or bring into existence something new. Often students believe that creativity is either a mystery or a divine right. Either you have it or you don't sort of thinking. Both as an artist and a teacher, I have come to see that creativity can be born and developed in all of us. The blessing is all of ours.
To find our creative fountainhead, we must tap inside ourselves. We must begin by thinking we are creative to remove the barricade of doubt and fear that encloses our imagination and blocks our creative flow. How to access this fountainhead of ideas is a practice of "doing" � the exercise, like any exercise, builds strength and spontaneity.
To begin with we must take ourselves away from our familiar routine and everyday surroundings. It may help to retreat to a peaceful place, one with fewer distractions. Or, on the contrary, we might need stimulus of outside noise, sites, smells. Either situation will help to open the flood gates of imaginative thought and energize, motivate and inspire us to create.
Bring a pad of paper and colorful pens and pencils to help you map out your thoughts. Bring or look for magazines, pictures, books, art and find associations to people, places, and things. Surround yourself with the task at hand and with the things you love to think about, dream about. Be amidst all your "comfort" thoughts.
"All who study creativity agree that for something to be creative, it is not enough for it to be novel: it must have value, or be appropriate to the cognitive demands of the situation." Creativity - Beyond the Myth of Genius, by Robert W. Weisberg, Page 4. To my way of thinking, this assertion puts the cart before the horse. The moment we say to ourselves that what we must be thinking about should have value and purpose, we are stopped dead in our tracks. So let's step away from purpose, value, etc. Let's stop thinking that we must "know" something to be imaginative and creative. To unleash our creative thinking, let's just "BE" creative. Allow ourselves to say "what if" and proceed from there, full of fantasy and fun. Does it matter whether the first ideas to roll off our thoughts are perfect? No. Let each thought sponsor a new thought. Let each thought branch out and keep it branching. There is no measurement at this
stage and no evaluation. The object is to get the bowl full of crazy, wonderful ideas bursting with wild imaginations. It won't take long for you to become so excited you'll hardly know where to begin.
Aha! And this brings us to the next step. Stepping back and looking over the results of our rampage into wonderland and coming up with something we just "know" is right. At this point your knees may weaken with thoughts like, "I'm not smart enough to pull this one off" or "How will I get the additional information I need" or "This looks like too much trouble." These thoughts are not your friend.
So I suggest you write down all the negatives you can think of ahead of time. Put them on pieces of paper and tack them around your studio. Sort of like the "no smoking sign." If you need more input, get it. Read, speak to authorities, other artists, and gain more information. Seeking knowledge is the way out of the maze and the way into confidence.
Einstein's quote shown at the top of this newsletter "so beautifully captures the fact that you have to first be able to imagine something before you will be able to turn that thing into reality. Knowledge is of little use without the imagination required to put it to good use. Imagination in turn is what paves a pathway to the acquisition of new knowledge and new skills. Imagination and knowledge interact to create a cyclical effect, with each feeding the other and moving forwards in a unified direction." Imagination is More Important than Knowledge By Roseanna Leaton Hypnotherapist
Once the idea begins to gel, creativity takes on the muscle of decisiveness. Here the process of decision making helps toss out the "maybes" in exchange for the definite "yeses." As artists we start to fine tune with questions of color, size, medium, etc. Pull this all together, develop your rough ideas, look them square in the face and contemplate their maturity. Watch your seeds of inspiration grow along with your confidence that CREATIVITY IS, in fact, IN EACH OF US and unleashed through fearless effort, practice and prayer.
God bless. OM
NEWEST OM BOOK!!!
Volume 12 and Course Pak #12
Click Here To Order
ACADEMY @ Kentucky
Just a word of encouragement to all beginners.....
The Academy program is sequential, so as my husband says, "Don't override your headlights!." In other words, just try to focus on each book's goals. The skills achieved by finishing one course will prepare you for the next. Feel free to email me your work. I'd love to see your progress.
Remember to mark your
calendars for
June 14-17, 2010
Academy @ Kentucky Arboretum
INTRODUCING
FINE ARTIST RON SANDERS, PAA
THE ACADEMY'S NEWEST CERTIFIED ACADEMY INSTRUCTOR
This newsletter announces a very exciting Advanced Certificate Program the Academy is offering. The Academy has recently appointed renowned artist, Ron Sanders, as a Certified Academy Instructor.
Ron Sanders is an extremely talented artist and the Academy of Botanical Art is proud to have him as part of their education team.
Ron is a Signature Member of the Paint America Association and Associate Member of the Oil Painters of America. With his inclusion in numerous national juried exhibitions and ever increasing Best of Show Awards, this dedicated artist houses his beautiful work in both private and public collections throughout the United States, including the Indiana State Museum Collection. Recent awards include First Place in the 2009 Richeson 75: Portrait/Figure competition and the Most Innovative Painting Award at the National Oil & Acrylic Painters Society “Best of America 2008” exhibition.
Ron integrates design, draftsmanship, and layered painting techniques of his classical training with the color, texture and edges inspired by impressionism. Ron has a developed and thorough understanding of color theory and paint application which explains his advanced skill in expressing temperature and edge shifts that occur in natural light. He is author of the book Color Mixing/Color Matching: How to mix clean bright colors and beautiful neutrals.
In an effort for the Academy to offer students advanced techniques in painting that will assist in creating authentic habitats in combination with their botanicals, the Academy is delighted to offer this fall:
Ron's experience in historical painting and his vast knowledge of color theory and application will help guide not only botanical artists but nature artists and plein air artists to a higher level of expertise.
In conjunction with the Marie Selby Botanical Garden, the Academy will be offering a Certificate in Advance Studies to those individuals who complete the four course program and submit a "Senior Thesis" painting for review.
It is an honor to have Ron Sanders on our staff and we look forward to some very beautiful work coming out of this program.
To learn more about Ron and his work, visit:
www.sanders-studios.com
The All New OM ART Book Store
We keep adding information on Products & Art Supplies
Click Here To Visit Our Book Store and See What's New
Book Buys
Today's Botanical Artists
By Cora Marcus and Libby Kyer
Idea Spotting:
How to Find Your Next Great Idea
by Sam Harrison
How to Get Ideas
by Jack Foster
Vision Boards:
A Guidebook for Mapping Out Your Vision
by Olivia Vicky Lee
How to Mind Map:
The Ultimate Thinking Tool That Will Change Your Life
by Tony Buzan
It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be
by By Paul Arden
Caffeine for the Creative Mind:
250 Exercises to Wake Up Your Brain
by Stefan Mumaw, Wendy Lee Oldfield
Color Mixing/Color Matching:
How to mix clean bright colors and beautiful neutrals.
by Ron Sanders
Need Supplies? Visit Our Store!!
OM Art Book Store
OM Art Class Art Supplies
OM Art Instruction Books
For Shipping & Storing
Archival Clamshell Box
And
Glassine Interleaving Paper
Academy of Botanical Art
Distance Learning sm
Now Available for Anyone
Interested in Endangered Species,
Bromeliads or Palms
Endangered Species for Botanical Artists
This wonderful course is available to anyone interested in the study of endangered species.
Academy Students earn elective credits for taking this course and completing the enclosed exam. A wealth of information that all will find extremely interesting.
Academy Electives: 15
by John Beckner, Botanist
$150.00 Non Certificate Student ~ $275 Certificate Students
Bromeliads for Botanical Artists
The structure of bromeliad plants and their flowers
with suggestions for ways to illustrate and
better understand these exciting plants.
Academy Electives: 5
by John Beckner, Botanist
$50.00 Non Certificate Student ~ $175 Certificate Students
Palms for the Botanical Artist
This publication is just the tip of an iceberg.
Palms are plants inclined to large dimensions.
They are very numerous and more varied than you first imagine. This text is for the person interested in illustrating them in various ways;
artistic or scientific and as a motif for crafts. But nearly all of it will be useful to plant lovers, tropical nature fans, gardeners and other people.
Academy Electives: 5
by John Beckner, Botanist
$50.00 Non Certificate Student ~ $175 Certificate Students
Click here to learn more about the
Academy and its instructors
ABA Instruction & Course Paks
The Academy of Botanical Art's flexible program allows for distance learners to tailor a schedule of botanical art training to their needs that includes phone tutored lessons, classes with the Ringling College of Art and Design, the Marie Selby Botanical Garden, and Academy workshops now offered in several locations. Distance learners take advantage of classes offered in their hometown as part of their study program. There is hardly an excuse left not to join the Academy's growing school.
Book Volumes 1-8 = $38.00 each
Book Volumes 9 & 10 = $50.00 each
Plus Shipping and Handling
Accompanying ABA Course Paks
Volumes 1-9 = $19.00 each
Volume 10 = $25.00
Plus Shipping & Handling
Click Here To Order
Volume 12
Colored Pencil for the Botanical Artist $38.00
Course Pak #3a
Research on the Internet $35.00
Course Pak #11
Marketing Your Art $35.00
Course Pak #12
Colored Pencil $19.00
Course Book/Pak #16
Combined Endangered Plant Species of the World $125.00
Click Here To Order
Soul Biz
"Soul then is the life principle and the root cause at the core of everything, for nothing can come into manifestation without it."
Kirpal Singh
~
"Creativity is��..seeing something that doesn�t exist already. You need to find out how you can bring it into being, and that way become a playmate with God."
Michele Shea
~
"A "yes" is a "yes,"
and a maybe is not now."
Cathy Drew, intuitive
"The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself."
Alan Alda
~
"It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all."
Edward de Bono
~
Conditions for creativity are to be puzzled; to concentrate; to accept conflict and tension; to be born every day; to feel a sense of self."
Erich Fromm
~
"The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas."
Linus Pauling
~
"An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come."
Victor Hugo
~
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Art Classes & Workshops
You can now combine
Distance Learning with Class Time
at any of our locations!!!
Private Classes with O.M.Braida
Studio 20 Resumes October 2009
Time:
All Private Studio Classes
are from 10:30am to 3:30pm
Location:
2068 Sunnyside Lane, Sarasota, FL, 34239.
Just off 41 in the Southgate area two blocks north of Webber and the Mall.
Dates:
2009
November 5, 12, 13, 19
December 3, 7, 8, 9, 10
2010
January 7, 14, 21, 22, 28
February 4, 11, 18, 19, 25
March 4, 11, 18, 25, 26
April 1,15, 22, 29
May 6, 13, 20, 21, 27
Tuition:
4 classes/20 hours: $450
Individual class: $125
Refreshments provided, but you may want to bring your own lunch.
Credit Cards Accepted!
Register Here
Or contact olivia@omartdesigns.com
Or Call 941-953-9999 for more information
COLORED PENCIL COURSE @ ACADEMY
Mondays
12:30 to 4:30pm
November 2, 16, 30, Dec 14
Inquire about other dates this course will be offered. Program soon to be offered to Distance Learners as well. Be sure to ask how to enroll.
Call Olivia to register:
941-953-9999
PHOTOGRAPHY COURSE @ ACADEMY
Program Objective: Students will learn
In Session One:
- Class One: Basics
- Class Two: Indoor Lighting of Plants Class Three: Plant Macro Photography
In Session Two:
- Class Four: Nature Photography I
- Class Five: Nature Photography II
- Class Six: Critique & Photoshop Demo
TAKE ONE OR BOTH!
Time:
10:30am to 3:30pm
Location:
2068 Sunnyside Lane, Sarasota, FL, 34239.
Just off 41 in the Southgate area two blocks north of Webber and the Mall.
2010 Dates:
Part I: January 25, 26, 27
Part II: February 8, 9, 10
Tuition:
$375 FOR ONE
$595 FOR BOTH
Please bring your lunch.
Credit Cards Accepted!
Register Here
Or contact olivia@omartdesigns.com
Or Call 941-953-9999 for more information
Susan Coffey is a fine artist and photographer who has been involved in the arts for more than thirty years. Her studio creates fine art Gicl�e prints using state of the art equipment from Epson. Learn more about Susan from her website: www.susancoffeydesigns.com.
Academy of Botanical Art sm @
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
To Register, visit www.selby.org
Or Call Marilynn Shelley 941-366-5731 x 239
2009/2010 Academy
@ Selby Schedule
Botanical Drawing & Watercolor
Noon to 5pm
Dates:
Three Day Workshops
$350 Members/$375 Non Members
2009
November 9, 10, 11
December 7, 8, 9
2010
January 18, 19, 20
February 15, 16, 17
March 22, 23, 24
April 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 (5-Day Workshop)
May 17, 18, 19
Advanced Studies in Nature Painting
Habitat Painting for Nature Artists
& Botanical Painters
Academy of Botanical Art and the Marie Shelby Botanical Garden are proud to announce their newest program
Open to anyone who meets one of the following criteria:
- Inter to Adv Watercolorists
- Nature Artists
- Certified Botanical Artists
- Inter to Adv Flower Painters
- Plein Air Painters
This program offers a Certificate in Advanced Nature Studies To students who complete all four courses and submit a "Senior Thesis"
- Participants can take one or all of the following courses.
- Everyone needs to take Course #1
- Only Certificate students must take all four courses
- Certificate students submit a "Senior Thesis" to receive their Certificate.
PROGRAM OBJECTIVE:
The objective of Advanced Studies in Nature Painting is to equip artists with the tools to incorporate the natural habitats that complement their paintings. Students will learn to think differently about art and one's artistic goals and meet the challenges of the ever changing effects of natural light. Students will be instructed in fundamental abstract principles of art and design which will be reinforced by a range of artistic schools and movements.
Course #1
October 10, 24, November 7
10am-3:30pm PREREQUISTE
$350 Members/$375 Non-Members
$25.00 Book Fee
MIXING TEMPERATURE BIASED COLOR
Learning to see and mix temperature biased color for the depiction of natural sunlight and skylight on form. This first course will be held at Studio 20. Payment for this course is made to the Academy of Botanical Art. Call for information 941-953-9999. Courses #2, #3, #4 are held at Selby Gardens. Please bring lunch.
Course #2
January 9, 16, 23
10am to 3:30pm
$350 Members/$375 Non-Members
$19.00 Fee to Academy for Handout Materials
PLEIN AIR FIELD STUDIES
Gathering reference material for painted backgrounds through the use of plein air color/value sketches combined with photographic resources. Please bring lunch.
Course #3
February 13, 20, March 6
10am to 3:30pm
$350 Members/$375 Non-Members
$19.00 Fee to Academy for Handout Materials
DESIGNING FOR DEPTH & FOCUS
Compositional tools for building greater depth, form and pattern into your paintings
Please bring lunch.
Course #4
April 10, April 24, May 8
10am to 3:30pm
$350 Members/$375 Non-Members
$19.00 Fee to Academy for Handout Materials
$100 Fee to Academy for Graduates Review, Grade & Certificate
BOTANICALS IN BACKGROUNDS
"The Senior Thesis" of the Advanced Studies in Nature Painting series. Please bring lunch.
To learn more about your instructor, visit: www.sanders-studio.com
TO REGISTER FOR CLASSES CALL
MARILYNN SHELLEY @ 941-366-5731 X 239
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PROGRAM CALL
OLIVIA @ 941-953-9999
Academy @ Kentucky
with Leslie Ramsey
Botanical Art Workshops
Graphite - Watercolor - Pen & Ink
Beginners to Advanced
With
Leslie Ramsey
Certified Botanical Artist
Certified Academy Instructor
THURSDAYS
to June
Day & Evening Classes
Day: 10am to 1 pm $200 (individual class $75)
Evening: 5:30pm - 8:30pm $200 (individual class $75)
Location
4464 Stuart Hall Boulevard #33102
Lexington, KY 40509
Art supplies and books not included.
For recent Arboretum/Kentucky University
Workshop attendees who completed Drawing I and Watercolor I, pursue the next level book
Drawing II and Watercolor II.
For Books and Course Paks and
Art Supplies visit...
www.botanicalartsupplies.com
To Register, call Leslie Ramsey:
606-434-4280
Events
Join the
Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Walk
Saturday, November 14, 2009
9am to Noon
For Info Contact:
swinfo@sarasotawalk.org
941-400-4597
For more details, visit
www.sarasotawalk.org
Exhibits Museums
South Florida Museum
201 10th Street West
Bradenton, Florida 34205
(941) 746-4131
http://www.southfloridamuseum.org/
John and Mable Ringling Museum
5401 Bay Shore Road,
Sarasota Florida 34243
(941) 359-5700
http://www.ringling.org/
Museum of Fine Arts
255 Beach Drive NE, St.
Petersburg, FL 33701
(727) 896-2667
http://www.fine-arts.org/
Salvador Dali Museum
1000 Third Street South
St. Petersburg, Florida 33701-4901
(727) 823-3767
http://www.salvadordalimuseum.org/home.html
Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation
Carnegie Mellon University
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213-3890
(412) 268-2434
http://huntbot.andrew.cmu.edu/
National Museum of Women in the Arts
1250 New York Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20005-3970
(202) 783-5000
1-800-222-7270
http://www.nmwa.org/
Smithsonian Institute
10th Street and Constitution Ave., NW in Washington, D.C. 20560
(202) 633-1000
http://www.si.edu/
Metropolitan Museum of Art
1000 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10028
(212) 535-7710
http://www.metmuseum.org/
American Museum of Natural History
79th Street @ Central Park West
New York, New York
(212) 769-5100
http://www.amnh.org/
American Museum of Natural History
79th Street @ Central Park West
New York, New York
(212) 769-5100
http://www.amnh.org/
Modern Museum of Art
11 West 53 Street,
New York, NY 10019-5497
(212) 708-9400
http://www.moma.org/
Brooklyn Museum of Art
200 Eastern Pkwy
Brooklyn, NY 11238
(718) 638-5000
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/
High Museum of Art
1280 Peachtree Street, N.E.
Atlanta, Georgia 30309
(404) 733-HIGH
Receptionist: 404-733-4400
http://www.high.org/
Art Institute of Chicago
111 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois, 60603-6404
(312) 443-3600
http://www.artic.edu/aic/
Bruce Museum One Museum Drive
Greenwich, CT 06830
203-869-0376
http://www.brucemuseum.org/
Harvard University Museum of Natural History
Home of the famous Glass Flower Sculptures
by Leopold Blaschka (1822-1895)
and his son Rudolf (1857-1939)
22 Divinity Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 495-2365
http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu/
Locate Other Fine Art Museums
Locate Garden Events
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