.Brain Exercises to Stimulate Creativity

The brain benefits from exercise just like the muscles in your body. Wouldn't it make sense that if you work out your brain, then your brain function improves? And with improved brain function, that means improved creativity as well.  TRY DOODLING!  It filters out the static in your brain and allows you to concentrate on one thought.  Doodling is basically small repetitive shapes or marks. All you need is a sharp pencil or fine tip pen or marker. Look around your space and pick out small organic shapes (leaf, flower petal, tear drop) and some geometeric shapes (squares,rectangles, triangles). Then start drawing one shape over and over,each against the other.  The longer you doodle, the more inner thoughts will surface. 

Artists often think that the word “artist” implies that they do not have to follow any rules. I believe this has led to a mountain of  unprofessional work  being pushed and touted today.  Of course all rules can be broken, but one should first know what the rules are they are breaking and “why” each was made in the first place. I’m afraid many of us think we are good artists without even realizing how much we do not know that we should know. This causes many artists to deceive themselves into thinking their work is great, without realizing it reeks of amateurism.  It is like cranking out short stories or novels without ever being exposed to correct spelling or basic grammar.  I know this because I am definitely one of those artists. In other words, your wonderful creative thought or the perfect picture in your head is often unintentionally ruined by poor craftsmanship.   There really are some  fundamental core guidelines for professional craftsmanship that seem to have been nearly lost over the last sixty or so years.  Gone is the school of learning from masters directly (atelier) or passing on critical working knowledge through apprenticeship.  Yes, there are a few great masters who offer classes,  but unless you have seriously delved deep into the painting process, or read about them in magazines or books, their names would mean nothing. So what should you know that you don't know?   I have some answers based on much research, but would like to hear from others first.  

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I get asked all the time by artists if they can exhibit in the gallery.  It is always very difficult to say no since that answer leads to either anger or it dampens their spirit or hurts their feelings. But the fact is, as artists, we generally go through stages. The first stage is the "instant gratification"  stage, which is when we are able to copy a painting or picture and believe it looks just as good as the original. To the untrained eye, it might look wonderful, but to the trained eye,  it is far from it.

I don't know how many of you seen have the PBS special on how football is causing more and more injuries, especially among middle school and high school students, but it is "shocking" .  Based on some very in-depth studies that included dissecting the brains of young players who have passed,  putting sensors in the helmets of players and doing cognitive skill testing, it appears that football is damaging the brains of our youth.  My feeling is that is oxymoronic for schools to be dumping so much money into an activity that is not only harming their students, but reducing their learning capacity, while cutting back and

 The realization that the No Child Left Behind is causing more damage than good to our children has finally set in.  Older teachers are more aware than ever that never being able to veer off CRCT test questions has led to route learning and disengaged growing minds from thinking for themselves, of having original thought, or simply put, creativity.  Plus, since the demise of handwriting classes, youth today can not hold a pen or pencil in the correct manner so they can see what they are writing!