365 Project - Days 335, 336

"and he has filled him with the Spirit of God with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft." Exodus 35:31-33

I have become enamored with creating interesting photographs by placing glass, crystals and prisms close to or against my camera lens. For fun, I started out with wine and champagne glasses and switched to small aperitif glasses in various colors. I am getting a kick out of this and I literally had to stop myself from continuously pulling new objects out of my cabinets. Upon the advice of famous fashion photographer, Lindsay Adler, during a recent Creative Live webcast and a recent article, I ordered small teardrop chandelier crystals and a glass prism and went creatively crazy.

One of the joys of the creative process is that aside from basic ground rules, we have the complete freedom to exercise our visual and neural muscles in any range of combinations. There is no right or wrong. This is our personal creation. It is up to us as artists to decide whether the work we are creating is appealing. To be sure, not everyone will like it - not everyone likes the paintings of the masters. So be it. As one of my favorite artists, Henri Matisse said, "creativity takes courage."

There is a measure of creativity in all of us. The developmental difference may simply lie in one's yearning and courage to create. The photographs below wouldn't win contests, but were borne of a relentless desire to create something new. The first photo was taken with a wine glass creating the haze at the bottom; in the second there are only 2 real flowers, the rest are created with the use of crystals. I am anxious to see how far I can push these simple tools to create unique photographs.

That's how I am using my burning desire to create. How about you?

Best wishes.

Today's Photos: Crystal Creations

“Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten. Then when you hit puberty they take the crayons away and replace them with dry, uninspiring books on algebra, history, etc. Being suddenly hit years later with the 'creative bug' is just a wee voice telling you, 'I'd like my crayons back, please.' ” Hugh MacLeod