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[blog-creativedev2018-blog]

CREATIVITY

It's impossible to explain creativity. It's like asking a bird, 'How do you fly?' You just do.

This journey i've been on for the last 17 days has showed me not only how much i can do in such a short time but also has taught me to be patient, to try and try again and to push the boundaries of my creativity.  

[blog-creativedev2018-blog]

PERSONALISED GIFTS

30/12/18

For the new year i've decided restrict myself to only give personalised gifts to people for their birthdays ( mostly my closest friends ) I can never decide what to get people for their birthdays and this year is the year of 21st birthdays. This means every gift has be perfect. Most people give alcohol, to me that is a quick a gift that doesn't give much thought. I want to make a gift people will cherish forever. Ive started with my boyfriend’s birthday on the third of january. I've embroidered our first picture together on one of his jean jackets. This kindred my love for embroidery. Im very very pleased with the result.

[blog-creativedev2018-blog]

PREDICTIVE TEXT

29/12/18

With the idea of follow the path in mind i decided to put fate, and technology, to the test. I frequently write of my thoughts on notes in my phone, so i decided to follow my iphones path with predictive text. I would start my thought and let the phone finish it for me by using the predictive text.

Creativity is a good word to summarize the result. My phone got very creative with its answers, yet also very restrictive to the same words. I realised that there are plenty of paths to follow and the path you might have thought you need to follow might actually be the wrong one or rather the path that is more restrictive.

Concept: restrictive

[blog-creativedev2018-blog]

LIFE IS SCARY

28/12/18

Life is scary.

I’m going into my third and final year, next year i enter the real world. Many people think that going to university is scary but in actual fact that still the easy part. Especially when, like me, you don't take a gap year. I've gone from school to school and never really leaving the teaching/learning environment. But next year is the year. I've tipped my toe into the working world, i've made some illustrated shirts and stickers for people, mainly friends. Although they've loved my stuff, the stress of a corporation or a the stress of losing your job is not there.

Life is scary and full of impossible choices. Where will i go next? Will i have a job once im doing studying? Should i study further straight away or give it a year? Where should i continue to study? Many questions and many choices.

My mother calmed me down with words of wisdom she said: you've laid the bricks down and now you have to follow the path you've created. She reminded me that everything i've accomplished and every decision i've made, all the tears and late nights i've been through, thus far has ensured i get  job opportunities at the end of the year, ensures my success and now i just need to carry on working hard and trust that all this effort has been enough.

Concept: follow the path

[blog-creativedev2018-blog]

WOULD YOU RATHER..

27/12/18

We’ve all played the game ‘would you rather..’ as a child.  The greatest form of mental combate known to man. My childhood filled with tough decisions, near impossible choices; and now my adulthood has come down to the same near impossible choice.

I was at work, it was a slow day, and a family of four came sat down for a light lunch. They were a pleasant bunch. After they ate i went around and asked the little boy if he'd like some milkshakes, and he said yes. The milkshake he ordered had chocolate spread over the glass for decoration. After he was done it seemed he missed his mouth and used his whole body to drink the milkshake. This stirred up conversation between the other waitresses at the bar, i finally got asked the question: would you rather have chocolate stuck on your teeth or have to shower in chocolate ? this scenario got me thinking, i didn't know how to answer as i like being clean! I don't like feeling dirty and sticky or having my teeth feel like sandpaper. I shower twice a day and brush my teeth more frequently. So i was left speechless. This was a question i could not answer. But everyone was waiting for an answer so i had to choose, i said i would have chocolate stuck in my teeth as it would melt away.

Concept: impossible choices

[blog-creativedev2018-blog]

CLEANING MY ROOM

26/12/18

Cleaning my room is a stress free task. I've found that when my room is a mess, then my life is a mess. I can't find anything or can't use anything as everything seems dirty. To relieve this unwanted stress i clean. I find it therapeutic, and after my meditation week, i found that cleaning was a form of meditation. Another part of cleaning that i love so much is when i get a chance to decorate my room with small tokens of my days. On my wall are all of the memories or reminders of events in my life or inspiration for my art. Once my room is clean you can fully see my artistic side all over my walls, this is lost when my room is dirty. This also aids to my hoarding obsession, which seems sane when my room is clean but seems like a massive mess when my room is not clean.

Concept: cleanliness

[blog-creativedev2018-blog]

MEDITATION

25/12/18

Meditation isn’t about becoming a different person, a new person, or even a better person. It’s about training in awareness and getting a healthy sense of perspective. You’re not trying to turn off your thoughts or feelings. You’re learning to observe them without judgment. And eventually, you may start to better understand them as well. For a week i had a routine of meditating as soon as i woke up and just before i went to bed. Studies show that meditation can help you stay on task longer, switch between tasks less frequently and enjoy your tasks more. Healthy sleep has more to do with quality of rest than quantity of hours. Sleep meditations help create the inner conditions needed for a truly restful night. Because when we settle the mind, we rest the body—and that restfulness is what makes it easier to wind down and drift off.  The first day of my meditation journey was challenging i would get impatient and irritated as i did not know if i was doing it correctly. I would drift off to sleep or have my thoughts run wild, forgetting the purpose of the meditation. But day after day i began to see the result, i was more peaceful, mindful and relaxed. I found that my patience increased, and for that i am grateful; more patience means less stress.

Concept: Less stress

[blog-creativedev2018-blog]

TRY & TRY AGAIN

25/12/18

Perseverance is something i hold dear. No matter how difficult something might be i sit down and push through it. The toy i made is a perfect example of perseverance and rekindling a project. The first attempt i made all by myself having no knowledge of what i was doing or how i was supposed to do it. Needless to say the end result was not very good. The stitching was done inconsistently and the attempt of an embroidered eye was horrific. For the second attempt i seeked help from a wise old lady, she showed me how to start sucha project and the tricks of the trade. Such as using newspaper to create a perfect pattern, using sewing thread to stitch together the toy rather than embroidery thread and she showed me that patience is key when making such a toy; Patience is something i do not have. And with all these lessons i made a second, and much much better toy. Comparing the two toys one can see the wisdom i have gained during these creative attempts.

Concept: Patience

[blog-creativedev2018-blog]

REKINDLE AN OLD PROJECT

24/12/18

Many of us try to live sustainable lifestyles by buying organic, using our bikes instead of cars or cooking with solar- but how often do we think about how much food we consume and waste, where it comes from, whether it's been sustainably or ethically sourced, how far it may have travelled to get to us and what impact its production had on the environment, people and economies. With this in mind, grade 12 Erika made an installation which stole my mother's heart. I painted food food onto plates and then i broke them to symbolise the waste of food, especially the waste of food most people do not have. She loved the project and wanted plates of her own. After years of asing i thought i would finally make them for her as a christmas present.  It felt good to give my mom something i knew she would really adore and appreciate, although,I did hate giving it to her so late after she's asked me so many times.

I had so much fun rekindling this old project, it definitely went a lot quicker as i knew the tricks to keep the paint on and how to mix the paint to suite the plate. The pleasure of rekindling a project and perfecting it bring me to wanting to rekindle all of my previous projects; especially those that were not successful. I definitely understand that an artwork is never  done just forgotten.

Concept: try again and again

[blog-creativedev2018-blog]

INSTAGRAM EXHIBITION

23/12/18

The one thing I've learnt is how much of an aid technology is to an artist. I have recently started to exhibit my artworks from throughout the year on instagram. But seeing as this is my creative account i thought i would not only post creative things but made sure to have each post contribute to an overall creative layout. I pushed myself to break the bounds of the box that instagram provides. With blocks of colour and texture i created a dynamic layout.

This helped to get over the fear of exhibiting my work for all to see. I have gotten good reviews and many compliments. The account has definitely made me more confident about my work, helped me realised the talent i have. I have pushed my creativity and i will continue to create a beautiful layout.

Concept: pushing creativity

[blog-creativedev2018-blog]

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

23/12/18

My boyfriends birthday is coming up and his father asked me to make a video for him. His father sent me hundreds of childhood photos. Photos his parents have saved up since he was born. I had the pleasure of using my creativity and skills to make the video. His family and mine are very different, we unfortunately lost all of our childhood photos while moving house one year. The lose never bothered me until now. Seeing all those smiles and memories of Carl’s, made me realise how important it is to save and to take care of precious memories such as old photos. I therefore took it upon myself to find all the childhood photos that i could. I scanned them and stored them on my computer, and external memory drives, with technology it has become a lot easier to save memories. I then gathered them up and stored them in albums, i will and protect these memories, cherish for the years to come.

Technology has made saving life memories easier, be it through social media or just saving it on different devices. I’m thankful for being alive in such a time where it is easy to save and recall memories.

Concept: technology

[blog-creativedev2018-blog]

SPENDING NO MONEY

23/12/18

I had yet another month where I spent all my money way too early and I was left with absolutely nothing. I then had no choice but to not spend any money for 3 days. I originally thought that this would be easy, I was wrong. I did not realise how many little things I buy on a daily basis. The cup of tea in the morning, the snack from Arcade Food Bar, the cheap pair of shoes or the one night of takeaway food. On reflection I realised that 90% of my worries involved eating food. I never once expected that food would have any negative effects but the universe has proven me wrong.

Not only does this prevent me from buying things on those 3 days but it also made me worry about future savings. I have a few larger items that I need to buy for college work and I have spent all the money to save up for it. Not being able to spend money over these past 3 days reminded me of this and all I could do from there was stress. I thought about it all day and worried that I didn’t even have money for an emergency. So in conclusion, after this harsh experience, I have now been frightened into saving money by preparing my own food. Snacks should be fruit and yoghurt that I buy from cheaper shops, coffee and tea can be made in a flask. Its healthier anyway. So the task that I thought would be slightly meaningless turned out to actually give me a stern reminder to be careful with money.

Concept: savings 

[blog-creativedev2018-blog]

GO ON A DATE

23/12/18

One of my biggest fears is rejection. For this challenge decided to take it slow and easy by asking someone on a date I knew would not say no.

For my birthday I asked my boyfriend to go on a date with me to see a concert at Montecasino. He picked me up in his little yellow car which we have named Pikachu. My boyfriend popped open the champagne he brought and I finished the bottle on the way.

When we got there we went straight to the gem and stone shop in the centre. As a present he bought me a glass amulet with a blown glass flower inside.

We ate at Spur and he humiliated me with sparklers in ice cream and a cheesy live performance. I shall never again enter a Spur on my birthday. Carl will always try to drag me in as he seemed to enjoy the experience a lot more than me.

We then continued our not-so-sophisticated date in the fountain with ice cream and shoes in our hands, feet kicking in the water. When the security came we decided to head off to our show.

The show was “The Play That Went Wrong” that depicts a play about a murder mystery. This play about a play shows all the catastrophes and mistakes that happen in a theatre production. It was hilarious as the set fell apart, lines were forgotten and queues were ignored.

It was indeed, a very, very fun date.

 concept: Experiences

[blog-creativedev2018-blog]

BEING BAREFOOT

21/12/18

I hate my feet, I never ever ever wear sandals or nor am I ever barefoot. With the concept of insecurity i when barefoot for a week… okay fine for three days.

The most entertaining thing about wearing no shoes for an entire day is watching the reactions of people around you. I was wearing a decent outfit and when people’s eyes moved down to my feet they looked extremely confused. This confusion grew to ultimate standards when I walked into a fancy clothes store in Parkhurst, Johannesburg. I never imagined that I could reenact the scene from Pretty Woman in exact detail but nevertheless I did. The store clerk approached me with raised eyebrows and asked me if I needed directions. I shook my head and bought the cheapest thing in the shop with a very proud head.

With the freedom of bare feet I decided to go for a walk with the dogs. My feet have never been so raw and hurt before. My feet have been sheltered with shoes and have never felt the pain  of rocks constantly stabbing them. It was relieving, comfortable and refreshingly cool every time I stepped onto soft green grass. The further I walked the  more my feet were aching on the concrete. They were burning hot and dry, every now and then I had to tear out thorns or glass that I wasn’t able to avoid.

After the walk I immediately put on shoes and vowed never to walk barefoot again. I have realised that being barefoot is not only an insecurity but now is also a fear of mine. I hope one day i will have the courage to overcome this small fear.

Concept: fears

[blog-creativedev2018-blog]

SUSHI

20/12/18

Sushi is possibly the best thing in the entire universe. However, it is extremely difficult to make and as I do not know how to Make it or where to start. I had many questions on how they make sushi so devious and precise.This idea was dismissed when my friend showed up with rice, seaweed and salmon. So in the spirit of diving into the unknown i set out to make some sushi !

After a few Youtube videos we began the difficult process. We used plastic placemats as the rolling sheets and laid the seaweed out onto them neatly. Then you have to take the rice and flatten it evenly over the  seaweed. You need to make sure that the rice is nice and condensed. Then the fun part begins. You really can just throw anything onto that rice. We tried strawberries, mangoes and fried chicken and it worked very well. We also tried tuna, tomatoes and peas but that didn’t work out so well….

Once the inner ingredients are placed on the rice the rolling starts. This is quite hard and you need to do it really carefully. Once the whole lot is rolled tightly in the seaweed you have to close it tightly by adding some water to the flap of seaweed. It works similarly as cigarettes are rolled. Then you can slice up the pieces and leave it in the fridge for 20 minutes.

This was so fun to do and it really made eating the finished food so much more satisfying. Again I did something that I never thought I could do and it makes me think that I should be more adventurous and try new things without being so insecure about it.

Concept:  Insecurity

[blog-creativedev2018-blog]

TOO MANY QUESTIONS

18/12/18

Children are now to ask many many questions. I channeled my inner child and asked 100 questions:

1. What is the meaning of life?

2. Why is it supposedly 42? I mean thats such a random number?

3. Why aren’t all beaches pink like in the Bahamas?

4. Can I answer all these questions?

5. Will I be able handle it if I can’t answer all of them?

6. Who can I trust to give me a dare for the next passport task?

7. Why is this guy at college drunk at 10 in the morning?

8. Does anyone else notice the guy picking up all the cigarette butts?

9. Do I scare people when I don’t like being hugged on introductions?

10. Why on earth do people like Kanye West?

11. Why do people sing about their bitches and money, don’t they have anything else to say?

12.Why does KC think coke tastes like caramel?

13. What fucked up caramel are people eating?

14. Why are cashews called nuts when they come from a fruit?

15. Why are tomatoes called vegetables when they are fruit?

16. Why does English constantly do that and make things more complicated?

17. How difficult must it be for a foreigner to learn English?

18. Are we all connected by modern technology?

19. Why is my contact session on Monica’s phone?

20. Is Monica stalking me?

21. How do people concentrate with metal music playing?

22. Is Art History going to suck this term?

23. Why are people wearing shorts?

24. How many people are under the influence of some kind of drug right now?

25. What is special about the word “progress”?

26. Where does it originate from?

27. Where have I made progress?

28. Where do most people make progress?

29. Is puberty considered progress?

30. Why is the alphabet in that particular order?

31. Surely you could use it in any order?

32. Do dyslexic people see the alphabet in different order?

34. Have I seen every colour in the world?

35. Could i get sponsors to support me to eat all the ice cream in the world?

36. If we can’t see air, can fish see water?

37. Do lobsters think fish can fly?

38. Why is Amorbae not Amore’s real name?

39. Do animals worry about being fat?

40. Why is everything i like bad for me?

41. WHy don’t I want to age past 40?

42. Who will give me the best dare?

43. Why does my butt hurt?

44. How much do I have to pay to get a good new guitar?

45. Why does Vian give the best massages?

46. Why does Vian give so many massages?

47. Will my boyfriend mind Vian gives me massages?

48. Will my boyfriend mind if I dress and act exactly like Ellen DeGeneres?

49. Can animals actually talk?

50. If a scorpion sees a lobster do they think it’s a mermaid?

51. Where does Rickayyyyy get his T-shirts?

52. Is Waldo always working?

53. Is sand called sand because it’s where the sea and the land meet?

54. If a fish gets caught does it feel like its being abducted by aliens?

55. Is the salt in the sea from fish seamen?

56. Is that why semen is called semen?

57. Why are words so important to us?

58. Why isn’t 11 called onety one?

59. Why are speakers round?

60. How did Tarryn do my hair so nicely?

61. Will there ever be a day that cigarettes run out?

62. Will weed ever take over the cigarette business?

63. Now that weed is partially legalised are people going to use it for more medicinal reasons?

64. How much wood does a wood chuck chuck?

67. What is a wood chuck?

68. Why do they chuck wood?

69. What do you think?

70. Do blondes really have more fun?

71. Who is gonna be my next roommate?

72. Why doesn’t everyone behave like vikings?

73. Why don’t we have rainbow pigmented people?

74. Why have we not figured out time travel yet?

75. Why have we not figured out teleportation?

76. Why dont we have human taxi services as a piggy back?

77. Why does the goddess in American Gods suck people up with her vagina?

78. Who wrote the script for that show?

79. Why can I never find my glasses?

80. Why are my glasses always dirty?

81. Why does money go so fast?

82. Why do all Woolworths employees have to shave off their eyebrows?

83. Why is he shouting?

84. Why do we hold things with our hands instead of our feet?

85. Why do pregnant bellies look so much rounder than fat?

86. Why do people want children?

87. Why do we ride around in metal boxes?

88. Why aren’t cars wooden/

89. How did those guys not find the Trojan horse suspicious?

90. Whose hoodie is in my cupboard?

91. Are watches going to disappear with the development of technology that tells the time (phones, laptops etc.)?

92. Where was I born?

93. Was I a fat baby?

94. Will I ever get taller?

95. What do the Southdowns kids think of us OWI students?

96. What is this government?

97. Does true love exist?

98. Is monogomy realistic?

99. How can i be attracted to both sexes but only want a relationships with men?

100. WHAT DO I DO WITH ALL THESE QUESTIONS NOW?

Concept: the unknown

[blog-creativedev2018-blog]

OLDEST MOVIE I’VE SEEN

18/12/18

The oldest movie in my movie collection, my very vast collection of movies, is the 1966 Batman and Robin movie.

This movie without a doubt was one of the silliest movies I have watched; it was goofy, silly and over the top satire. Nothing like the deep voiced and dead serious batman, I know and love, of today.

The movie goes against the norm. I find it to be like a child; they don’t ever say what you expect them to say. This type of comedy is rarely seen now a days. It opened my mind to see a serious character like batman in such a child-like movie.

I enjoyed the movie, however I am a person who likes movies based on true events.

Concept extracted: Child-like