Jan

An Irritating Issue Invites Creative Problem Solving

by Meredith Mullins on January 3, 2013

Littering of chewed gum, showing need for Creative Problem Solving

What Do U C?
© Meredith Mullins

What Do You See in the Photo?

An early Jackson Pollock? A view of the earth from the edge of space? A beachside road where seagulls have marked their territory?

Still not sure? Perhaps this riddle will help provide an Oh, I see moment:

It has all the attributes of a good friend.

It’s long lasting.
It sticks through thick and thin.
It stays true to itself (it doesn’t change in basic form or values).

But unlike a good friend, it offers nothing concretely useful, it’s annoying when it’s not a part of your life, and it’s disgusting when it’s past its prime.

What is it? Do U C now?

Meredith Mullins Comments

Clever Ideas/Innovations

Dec

For the New Year: Creative Inspiration from Emily Bear

by Meredith Mullins on December 27, 2012

piano keyboard, symbolizing creative inspiration from music

Looking for Inspiration, Not Resolutions

I stopped making New Year’s resolutions years ago. They were becoming less-than-meaningful clichés and always had relatively short lives. From a few days to a few weeks, they stayed in focus only until some project or practical necessity pushed them aside. (And, by the way, when you resolve to limit yourself to only one croissant a day in Paris, you are doomed to failure.)

However, even though I stopped the ceremonious list writing every New Year’s Eve, I didn’t stop searching for creative inspiration. Metaphoric lamplight in hand, like Diogenes looking for an honest man, I am always seeking ideas to fuel my own creative expression and make life better . . . for a new year or for a new day.

The Inspiring Emily Bear

This week, the inspiration came in the pure and smiling form of Emily Bear. She is a pianist and composer who says she can’t live without music. When she plays, the music comes from deep inside her, full of strength and light.

She started playing piano at age 2, began composing at age 3, and made her debut at Carnegie Hall at age 9. She’s now 11. Although her parents try not to use the “p” word in their house (“prodigy”), she is gifted, in an extraordinary way. To her, creative expression is part of her natural rhythm. She just loves music.

If video does not display, watch it here.

A love of music. Oh, I see. It is that simple.

Now, Emily is 11, with White House invitations, five CDs (with some of the proceeds going to children’s charities), and concert appearances around the world. All of that is inspiring.

A Reminder of True Values

Three particular things stood out to me for my own “unwritten” resolutions:

When Emily is asked (at age 6) where the music comes from, she says, “It just comes out of me.” “From where?” she is asked. “I don’t know. Probably my heart.”

When her mother is asked what she would like for Emily’s future, she says she just wants her to be happy. To have good values and to be a good adult.

When Emily thinks about her goals, she says simply that she wants to inspire people and to have people sing her songs and orchestras play her music.

There is much wisdom in these statements, and it led to my OIC moment: In a year when the voice of the child has been in the news—sadly, often muffled or extinguished—it is nice to be reminded of true values.

Leonard Bernstein also reminds us of the power of music, particularly apropos for 2012:

“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.”

For Emily and all of us, let’s listen to the music and follow our hearts.

VIA WGN-TV

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Meredith Mullins Comments

The World's Music

Dec

The Creative Process of Blind Photographers

by Meredith Mullins on December 13, 2012

Sea limpet, photographed by a blind photographer using a creative process to see differently

Intensified Seeing: A Sea Limpet
© Bruce Hall. All Rights Reserved.

Seeing Differently: Artistry From Within

Seeing is about much more than sight.

Can we sense sound without the ability to hear? Can we taste without eating? Can we feel without touching? Can we see without sight?

The answer—a definitive yes—requires unleashing the power of our senses, especially in the creative process.

The Power of the Senses

According to Scientific American, there is evidence to suggest that, if we live without one sense, “the brain rewires itself to boost the remaining senses.”

That is exactly the process of the many sight-impaired photographers who are working today—artists who use sound, touch, memory, and other sensations to “compose” their images and sense the timing of their subjects.

These artists believe that the image comes from within, not from the “outside.” And they prove that, often, a blind person can have a very clear vision.

Fortune teller, photographed by a blind photographer using a creative process to see differently.

Fortune Teller
© Pete Eckert. All Rights Reserved.

Blind Photographers as Visionaries

From among the many (see the Blind Photographers Guild and several Flickr sites for the range of the community), two contemporary photographers, Bruce Hall and Pete Eckert, have proven themselves to be exceptional visionaries.

Their creative process and their images provide a transformative OIC Moment—seeing is about much more than sight.

Child playing in pool, photographed by a blind photographer using a creative process to see differently.

James Loves the Water, or Does He?
© Bruce Hall. All Rights Reserved.

Bruce Hall: Intensified Seeing

As a child with limited vision, Bruce Hall changed his life one day when he looked through a telescope and saw something he had never been able to see before: a star.

This startling moment led to an obsession with cameras, lenses, magnifiers, large computer screens, and other optical devices. These tools all assist him in his vision— “intensified seeing,” as he calls it.

“I think all photographers take pictures in order to see,” he says. “But for me it’s a necessity. It’s beyond being in love with cameras. I can’t see without a camera.”

Hall describes his creative process: “First I see an impression. I take what I think I see, later I can see what I saw. I have certain aims, guesses, impressions, but the photographs are always a surprise.”

His current love is underwater work, where he can use his macro lens to get close to the beauty of the deep—both plant and animal life. He also is working on a project with his autistic twin sons.

Light-painted figure, photographed by a blind photographer using a creative process to see differently.

Pete Eckert: A Visual Person

For Pete Eckert, the story was different. He was sighted and then lost his sight as the result of a degenerative eye disease. He had time to prepare for the inevitable and explored ways he could pursue his artistic interests. He chose photography.

Now, he is accompanied by his guide dog, Uzu, and searches for moments through his other senses . . . and memory.

“I see each shot very clearly. You have to hear where the movement is and react intuitively. I’m a very visual person. I just can’t see.”

In his creative process, Eckert uses a slow shutter speed and “light painting.” When he senses the subject’s position and movement, he adds moving light—aiming flashlights, lasers, lighters, and candles toward the subject.

Once Eckert has processed the images, he involves a sighted person to help him select the images that will become large prints for galleries. “I slip photos under the door from the world of the blind to be viewed in the light of the sighted,” he says. “Talking with people in galleries builds a bridge between my mind’s eye and their vision of my work.”

His advice for aspiring photographers who are having trouble with subject selection or composition: “If you can’t see, it’s because your vision is getting in the way.”

Portrait of Stephanie, a motorcycle rider, photographed by a blind photographer using a creative process to see differently.

The Creative Process: Outside In and Inside Out

These experiences just confirm what we have always known. The creative process is a rich experience that is fed by exploration within and without.

The work of Bruce Hall and Pete Eckert is imaginative and experimental, and very definitely comes from within. And, yes, they do also happen to be sight-impaired. However, both want their art to be seen for itself, not because it’s made by a blind person.

Thank you, Bruce and Pete, for the inspiration.

Stay tuned for our February 2013 photography competition “Blind Sight.” You’ll be asked to close your eyes or blindfold yourself and make a photograph using the power of your imagination and your other senses.

UPDATE: The OIC Moments “Blind Sight” Photography Contest has been concluded and you can view the winners, as well as download the free ebook created from contest entries, here: