Ideas Bounce & Build

4/7/2014

Camel Pose - cut out on brown paper ©Cherry Jeffs

Camel Pose © Cherry Jeffs 2013
10 x 7cm, mixed media on brown paper

What if, instead of quickly settling for one of the first creative ideas that come to us, we paused longer over the initial stage?

Would it allow us to explore a greater range of options? Spark the cross-fertilisation of various ideas?

I was pondering on this in the studio last week and the result was an exercise to more thoroughly explore - and enjoy - the ideas stage. Here it is in case you'd like to try it:

Camel Pose - abstract background ©Cherry Jeffs
Idea development for yoga pose series, mixed media on paper

Ideas Brainstorm exercise

Begin with an initial or seed idea.
Brainstorm at least 20 different ways you might pursue your idea.
Support each idea with visuals. (Don't get hung up here - quick sketches, found images, textures, colour swatches and so forth are all you need.)
Let these ideas permeate in your subconscious for a few days before deciding how to proceed.
How could you combine several ideas/concepts in unusual or novel ways?

Camel pose - abstract fill sketch ©Cherry Jeffs 2013
Idea development for yoga pose series

What differences did you notice with this exercise from your normal way of working?

Share your experience of the exercise in the comments!

2 Comments

J.T.

4/7/2014 11:10:20 am

When I was taking flying lessons, I was taught that if I was ever flying on a long cross-country flight and got lost, not to turn back prematurely. Doing so would almost guarantee that I would end up lost. This was before the days of moving map GPS displays. I flew by pilotage and deduced reckoning (dead reckoning). Often winds would change enroute, causing check points to show up later than anticipated. The English word "time" fails to describe the experience adequately. The ancient Greeks used two words to describe how time can be perceived. First, there is "chronos" or elapsed time, clock time, calendar time. It is based upon a linear movement in once direction. A second form of time is called "kairos" or appointed time. Its arrival is dependent upon conditions being right. Sometimes a little sooner, sometimes a little later. The clock is thrown out the window. You don't stand in the garden and yell at the seeds you've just planted to grow do you? I am currently in the throes of revisiting this lesson again myself. It is frustrating, but I'm warming up to it again.

Cherry Jeffs link

4/7/2014 02:47:33 pm

Yes, J.T. these kind of lessons are worth revisiting over and over as each time we gain a new level of insight.
This blog is all about flying - albeit in a different way - so you should feel right at home :) I like the idea that if we turn back too soon we will end up lost - so once we have set off, we must find a way to complete the journey? And beyond a certain point, linear time certainly isn't much help when judging how far along we are...

Ideas Bounce & Build

What if, instead of quickly settling for one of the first creative ideas that come to us, we paused longer over the initial stage?

Ideas Brainstorm exercise

What differences did you notice with this exercise from your normal way of working?

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