Seeds of Creativity & Connection
I believe that creatives see and experience the world so differently. Colors, textures, sounds, feelings… they affect us more deeply. Inspiration for me often comes from all different types of discoveries, collaborations, and experiences. New ideas are not always immediate epiphanies. There are many things that surface from the subconscious after periods of time. The creative act of art also functions as self discovery, healing, and emotional expression. As I find myself more, through art, the recall can surprisingly be from decades before.
Anyone can tap into that type of creativity and remember connections from the past. Do you remember the smell or feel of a place you were long ago? Was there a comment or smile from a passing stranger you’ll never forget? Are there times from childhood that resurface as you walk through adulthood now? It’s wild sometimes how things that you haven’t remembered for many years can pop back up. Some surface for me with way more significance than I’ve ever remembered before. These seeds of creativity and connection are planted within us, ripple outward into our lives, and are often passed along to others.
Now that I’m in a very artistic chapter of life, so many memories of those who influenced and inspired me have come flooding back in. One very special example of this for me is my K-3rd grade art teacher. She is the first person I can remember that told me I was an artist. I so looked forward to her class and the joy it brought my creative mind. We learned to create with the things around us. Her lessons were brimming with the message that creativity is everywhere and you can make art with almost anything. The classroom was filled with items to explore and create with.
There are two distinct stories I remember from my time in Mrs. Brackney’s classroom. One is of me dragging bags of reclaimed materials she gave me from her classroom down the road to the local middle school my dad taught at. I was so excited about my newfound art treasures! The other story is when I was in 3rd grade and she told me she would like to enter my art into a show. My first ever art show. I can still remember the amazing feeling of seeing my work on display in a public setting!
After third grade, I moved schools and unfortunately away from art. I did not have the same feedback from other teachers. My vision of things did not fit into their definition of, “you are an artist.” I was young and didn’t understand that we don’t need permission from anyone to be an artist, we just are. So creatively, I moved towards performing arts for many years and experienced much joy there.
A new chapter in life got me back into the art world. When I found my niche, as Reclaimed Lotus, I started researching for artists who also used recycled materials. What I found was an amazing art show in my own backyard. I started following all of the updates and artists, reading about their creations and bios. To my surprise, I discovered that my elementary art teacher had founded the show. Her bio speaks of the time I would have been her student and why she creatively used recycled materials in our classroom. (Her bio is linked below.)
To me, as a young student, her teaching helped me see the world so creatively. We created art with egg cartons, carpet remnants, toilet paper tubes and so much more. I carried those lessons with me my whole life. I’ve always seen the beauty in discarded items. I love thrifting and antiquing. It feels like a challenge to incorporate things differently than their original purpose, or to use something that still has beauty but would otherwise be thrown away because it is “broken”.
Seeds of creativity and a love for art were planted within me in my elementary art classroom. I learned of possibility, curiosity, and discovery. They have grown and bloomed through out many chapters in my life. This is why arts in education funding is so important! We never forget those experiences, we grow from them.
Today, I am so grateful to be preparing as an exhibitor for the DéjàVu Art and Fine Craft show. This is the show Marilyn Brackney started 21 years ago. It bloomed out of her need to use recycled materials in our elementary art classrooms. For me, this will be a very special full circle moment. Little 3rd grade me…. She had her first artwork shown in public, by Mrs. Brackney, at the Common’s mall. Now, I’ve rebloomed as an artist who loves to use recycled materials in her glasswork. Reclaimed Lotus… she gets to do her very first professional fine arts show, with Mrs.Brackney, at the Commons in just a few short weeks.