Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Quote about Creativity

"I have long considered
the creative impulse to be a visit -
a thing of grace, perhaps,
not commanded or owned
as much as awaited, prepared for. 
A thing, also, of mystery."
- Loreena McKennitt - The Visit

For many, many, many years - as far back as childhood, I have been collecting quotes that appealed to me. I'm not sure what the attraction is, but it's significant. I have notebooks filled with quotes I like. Now the computer makes it much easier. I have a folder called - not surprisingly - "Quotes," where I stash anything that appeals to me.

This quote by Loreena McKennitt is one that has been in my files for awhile and I recently used it on a journal I created.

It has really struck me anew since I've been spending so much time in the studio lately. It's amazing to me how so many things come together to create something new.

One of my favorite things I've made recently are these wall plaques designed for meditation areas. I love the simplicity of them. The wheat design is a spin off of doodles I've been doing for years. The quotes were all in my files already. The paper tearing I learned from doing collage. The color blending is something I've been playing with for a long time. Somehow all of these come together to make something new. It's why I love making things - from art to cooking to graphic design - you can pull from a million different fields and thoughts and create something new.

I have some other designs I want to experiment with. I've decided that after labor day weekend, I have to focus on the finish work for the things I have done. Finishing is not my favorite thing, but it's necessary. So, that's my plan. No more playing with paint until everything already done is actually ready for sale.


Technology Fun

I just bought a new external. This is a 500 gb to go with the 250 and 160 I already have. I remember - far less than 10 years ago - when I got a 1 gb machine at the radio station where I worked and it was such a big deal that all the men gathered around to watch the unpacking. It was exciting. And, lest I be giving the impression that I was not excited, I insisted on unpacking and setting it up myself - a task generally reserved for the IT person. But, he graciously allowed me to do it - knowing of my interest in such things.

Tonight when I unpacked the drive I was amused that we've moved from the days of thick manuals that were packed with various cords and multiple "easy guides" and reams of information that demonstrated how to connect and operate whatever we had bought.

This came with one small flyer, and had less than 100 words of instruction on it. It was plenty. And the inside has more detailed info if you want it, but I like this simplistic approach. There's no CD. There's no manual. There's no filmy packing stuff I could never figure out the purpose of.

And, their attempts at humor are not bad. The only small print on this flyer says at the end page titled "Please Enjoy," "Note: Times may vary depending on how excited you are about using your new FreeAgent desktop drive." I like this new friendlier approach. Of course, if I hadn't set up multiple computer things by now I might want more detailed information. But it's available online or inside the little flyer.

This is a Seagate FreeAgent drive. I have another Seagate and have been very pleased with it. I also have a SimpleTech, which I've been pleased with. They've had IO Magic onsale, but I've had very unpleasant experiences with other products they make, so I won't buy one of theirs. Western Digital is supposed to be the "standard," but an ex-bf had really bad luck with them. Companies would do well to understand the impression that gives. Obviously, you can't always control it, but you can control how you handle the problem. Western Digital jerked him around so much that I decided I'd never buy one of their products. The IO Magic products I've had have been so low quality that I just don't want to trust my data to them.

The reason I need so many drives is my penchant for digital pix. I take some almost every day. The blog has encouraged that, of course. I'd love to think my prose commands your undivided attention, but I'm no Wendell Berry, and graphic design demands some color now and then. Hence the photos, hence the external. My laptop is so full I can't accomplish anything on it for the constant "low on disk space" warnings. It will be pure luxury to have it running again without those pesky boxes popping up.