Nourishing Our Creativity

French Horn #2 - Steven Kennard 2011
French Horn #2 – Steven Kennard 2011

Creativity is fed and nourished by the things around us and our experiences. Some of those are visual, some are more visceral. For all of us our ability to create is fed by those things. Photography (making photographs) compels me to be observant of my surroundings and my environment in a broad sense and in a more focused sense in the details. I believe our brains have the capacity to record everything that we see and the subconscious memory of that is often visible in the things we subsequently create ourselves. This can be seen in forms, surface textures or colour, for example.

Composing images requires a careful balancing of elements – what is to be excluded, what included and how these elements are placed within the frame – to create the visual harmony along what, in photography is a two dimensional plane. Three dimensional works whether turned items, sculpture or even furniture all need to have the same consideration applied to achieve successful results. For me, the creating of images and the creating of three dimensional works are interrelated and connected and often this relationship can be seen in my work. Sometimes this connection is clear, at other times more subtle.

We need to keep feeding our brains and imaginations using the elements that are available to us wherever we might be.

Original Post November 21, 2011:

Symphony Nova Scotia had an annual fundraiser and asked Nova Scotia artists to create something using some of their old and unusable musical instruments. I got this wonderful French horn (which I still managed to play as you can see if you look closely at the photograph below) and made a series of photographs of it.

Imagine the music this instrument provided for so many people for years and the pleasure that it gave to those who played it.

French Horn #1 - Steven Kennard 2011
French Horn – Steven Kennard 2011

Bubbles of Ice

Bubbles of Ice - Steven Kennard 2012
Bubbles of Ice – Steven Kennard 2012

Sometimes looking down gives as much inspiration for design as anything you see around you. This frozen puddle with its bubbles is one example and I might well use it to inspire surface decoration in some of my future turnings. Clicking on the image takes you to my Macro and Ice gallery with other interesting mostly macro ice photos.

Waterwall

Waterwall - Steven Kennard 2012
Waterwall – Steven Kennard 2012

Waterwall – originally posted on April 23, 2012

No, this is not a typo. It is not a waterfall, but a wall fountain and therefore a waterwall. Photographed in in Karlsruhe, Germany. There are more images of this waterwall on my Abstracts gallery.

This post also serves to introduce my latest photo gallery “Abstracts” which you will see if you click on the above picture.