Feeding your creative well
As a creative person, I’m often struck by how easy it is to get bogged down and lose sight of what’s really important to me. When the work slows down, and the money gets tight, the all-too-familiar voice of doubt starts to creep up again. And all of the reasons I shouldn’t keep going seem to get louder and louder. The moments that spark the smile get further apart, and the path starts to look a bit hazy. It’s something that many artists have encountered before me, and I have no doubt countless will after I’m gone. But one of the best ways I know to remind myself why I’m here, (and why I have to keep creating) is to feed my well. It’s nearly impossible to create effectively in a vacuum, and creativity needs to be fed and nurtured. As a result, I’ve learned over the years that when I start to hit walls with my work or lose my way a bit, I need to replenish myself with creative material. I do this in a number of ways, but one of the best is to GO SEE ART.
There are some wonderful galleries and museums in this city. While they aren’t all 100% “on” 100% of the time, I feel fortunate that there are so many passionate people involved with curating shows that they are excited about that push things forward. This weekend I went to LACMA for the California Design, 1930–1965: “Living in a Modern Way” exhibit.
Afterwards, walking down Wilshire I felt suddenly lighter. It was as if the simple act of going to see some of the best design of the era from California designers empowered me to create on my own. So I took a few pictures on the way back to the car, and headed out to Venice.
Architecture and Sculpture on Wilshire
More Architecture
Gesture
Composition in Green
Ron English has a show at Post No Bills on Abbot Kinney currently called English 101 and it was definitely worth the trip. Here are a few highlights:
The next time you’re feeling stuck, go see something that inspires you. Then throw yourself back into your work, and see if it doesn’t make things better.
Sister Crayon
In spite of being tired last night I managed to make it out to School Night at Bardot again to see what wonderful things I could see. The first band, Shel, wasn’t up my alley, so I didn’t photograph them. Is that dumb? I don’t know. But I don’t like to take pictures of girls who sing about dragons, so there.
The band I DID want to photograph didn’t disappoint. Sister Crayon is a very talented group from Sacramento. I don’t always get to say that I’m impressed by a band’s performance, but I was last night. Lots of energy, heartfelt and sincere without being at all sappy. Do check them out.
Also, this is their latest video, which does not suck.
Gary Clark Jr.
Gary is one of my favorite guitar players to watch live. It’s incredible to see his command of the instrument, and almost channel a half dozen old blues singers. This kid is already well on his way to becoming a household name and is poised to make some serious waves in the music industry.
Bear in Heaven
I went to see Sun Airway, Lower Dens and Bear in Heaven at the Troubador the other day and it was a great show. Here are my favorites from the Bear in Heaven set.
Los Angeles Water
Everything in our loft is brand new as of the day that we moved in. Specifically the appliances and such, including the refrigerator. As many of you know, when you get a new fridge with a water purifier, you’ve got to run quite a bit of water through it before it’s really kickin’. Ours was no exception. We did the thing and poured out who knows how many gallons of water until it started tasting good. That’s about as scientific as we got. But I wanted to share this image I just made of the mineral (and who-knows-what-else) deposits that ended up in the tray beneath the spout. Pretty tasty looking stuff!
So that’s what unfiltered LA tapwater looks like. Scary!
Justin Sullivan Photography Blog 