Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Multiple Artistic Urges, Teaser Tuesday & Award

Firstly, MizB at Should be Reading does Teaser Tuesdays, where you turn to a random page in the book you're currently reading and post a two sentence teaser. Click on "Should be Reading" above to find out more.

"They were family gone to ash, the bond between them as bloodless as time can make a thing. Maybe that's why I felt a kinship, why I thought of once precious bonds charred to light gray nothing."

-p. 174, Down River by John Hart

John Hart is an excellent author, by the way, and an all around nice guy.

Speaking of authors, I've found that artistic people tend to have interests in multiple areas, such as a writer who also does water paintings, or a composer who also does photography. For me, I used to do a little cartoon drawing and sketching, but my next true love in the artist's world is photography. I live in an area rife with natural beauty so there's always something to catch my eye, whether it's a mama bear and her cubs or a rock formation. I also have artistic urges that don't necessarily pan out, as much as I might want them to. For instance, I tried to teach myself to crochet, having been taught by my grandmother when I was in kindergarten, but not having practiced it over the years. I actually did just fine, but it is something that takes patience, which I didn't have in relation to crocheting. Thus, I have a half finished blanket in the closet in my office. I frequently have the desire to do all number of other things that could be considered artistic or creative in nature, but they just don't work. I love seeing people doing crafty things, but they are often something that takes patience, much like crocheting, or I have a great idea in my head that simply doesn't come to fruition when I make a go of it. I do scrapbook, but not to the extent I've seen other people do it, and I briefly attempted to do digital scrapbooking, which I just wasn't as fond of. I like pictures as they are, not digitally modified. I've also flirted with music and acting, which were fun, but not something I was able to get very serious about, though I did enjoy it.

I imagine this tendency to look at all things artistic/creative has to do with the dominant side of one's brain or something along those lines. If you're creative, you're using the right side of your brain more. In fact, your dominant brain hemisphere controls how you see the world, not just whether you like art versus math or logic versus imagination. Still, many people work a day job that might be considered very left brained, yet they come home to write, draw, compose, etc. I wonder if, now more than ever, people are more duel-minded, using both sides equally or near equally, than in the past. I remember having to take a test in high school, and I tested almost straight down the middle as concrete random and abstract sequential. I forget which one scored slightly higher, as it isn't anything I've had to use in life, but I find that sometimes I get stuck on one side and have to work to get back to the other. If I've been doing a bunch of accounting, taking care of matters and other logical processes, it is sometimes a challenge to switch around to more creative pursuits. In fact, I think I completely shut down that part of my brain for several years when there was just too much going on that I needed to deal with. All I can say is that I'm glad that half of me is back!


Lastly, Charmalot at And Then my Heart Smiled awarded me the Stylish Blog Award. Thanks a lot for thinking of me! Charmalot blogs about reading and writing, and is hoping to start up an online book club starting July 1, so check it out.

Do you live more in your right or left brain? If you're an artist, what other artistic pursuits do you enjoy?

Happy Writing!

8 comments:

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Congrats on the well deserved award,

Yvonne.

Andrew Leon said...

I've always scored in the middle, too. We had this one test in high school that was graphed on an x-y axis. Generally, what was supposed to happen is that you score really high on one axis and really low on the other so that, when you connect the dots, you come out a diamond. I was a square. Almost exactly. The only one in the class that tested that way. Can you imagine the jokes? And the Huey Lewis references?
I've had similar scores on many other tests of that nature.

My biggest other artistic outlet is painting, but that's not the only one.

Laura Josephsen said...

Congrats on the award!

I'm totally right-brained. I have to do left-brained stuff sometimes, of course, but I'm very, very right-brained. I've dabbled in sewing and crocheting and several instruments, but never went super far in any of them.

Unknown said...

Congratulations on your award, Shannon! Woo hoo! I think I ride the line, as well, but I most definitely lean toward that artsy-fartsy side. Music frees me almost as much as writing. In fact, I nearly pursued a career with a bluegrass band. That's right! Bluegrass! For nearly seven years, we lived it up, traveling from festival to festival, pickin' 'til 2 or 3 in the morning. Great fun.

So, yeah. I'm in total agreement that no matter what art form you consider your particular forte, another waits in the wings.

Rebecca Bradley said...

Congratulations on the award.

I never thought of myself as artistic in anyway until I started writing. I can't draw, sing or dance, but I really do love to write. It's strange how that works isn't it.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Yvonne, thank you!

Andrew, I was also the only one who scored that way in my class. I now have "Hip to be Square" stuck in my head. ;-p

Laura, thank you! I also tried sewing and it was, again, something where I had great ideas, but the actual act of precise cutting and such bored me out of my mind. I'm too twitchy!

Alyssia, thank you! That sounds like so much fun! Did you guys get paid gigs and everything? You could start a writer's band like the one Stephen King and Dave Barry are in (the Rock Bottom Remainders: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Bottom_Remainders).

Rebecca, thank you! It is funny how it works. I've always loved pictures, looking at them, taking them, but it was only in the last five years or so that I suddenly became fascinated with them as an art form. Maybe something like that will come along for you (and if it doesn't, writing is more than enough, right!?).

Julie Flanders said...

Congratulations on your award! I'm looking forward to checking out Charmalot's blog, and online book club sounds fun!

It's funny I never thought of myself as artistic or creative in any way until I started writing. In fact if asked I would always say I'm not creative. The writing has tapped into a creative side I had ignored for a long time.

Great post!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Julie, I'm glad you found something you could enjoy and that tapped into your creative side.