Following my dreams

Sometimes ideas and inspiration come at odd times; in the shower, while in the bathroom, or in my dreams.

 Last night I had a dream about painting on canvas. This is of course something lots of artists do, but I have never actually done so. In my dream the canvass I was painting on was about 4 feet by 8 feet. so extremely large. and I was simultaneously painting two of these.
On one of them were some drawings that I had planned to paint very opaquely on top of my vibrant translucent mystical background. The frustration was trying to see the drawing behind the first painting.

 But that neither here nor there. What I did find interesting is that I had family members who had died making comments about my work and talking about how proud they were of my creativity. Both my mother and my grandfather who I struggled with in life were saying how they always knew I was talented and following this path was the right one for me. 

Anyway in general the dream felt very positive and I feel inspired to go pick up a couple of small canvasses to play around with. I have several types of paint and several media to mix it with as well as other ideas to try out. So yeah. I am gonna play with these.
I am completely ready for failure in terms of achieving anything like my dreams but the chance to play and experiment has me excited.

Following my dreams literally, almost never happens and when I do I seldom achieve the vision of my dream, but I often achieve something interesting. 
Those quiet moments when your mind can speak to you and help you to create are important and to be cherished and listened to.
Seek them out.

Creative connections

Creativity never happens in a vacuum. However it may happen while vacuuming. When I am sitting in a waiting room with boring old magazines, or sitting at the bus terminal, or waiting in line at the bank, I try to find ways to allow colors, patterns, phrases, or the position of objects seep into my creative mind. They can go into the nooks and crannies without being anything big or spectacular. but something as simple as the way two colors look next to each other. like that ladies purple coat against the mottled grey and white wall, can add to the richness of my next quilting project.
Watching how a girl colored a picture of snowflakes was inspiring to me and I am looking forward to my quilt retreat next month so I can play with that inspiration.
I try to stay open to inspritation and I keep a notebook in which I sketch and not down interesting observations as well as ideas.
If I am ever faced with time unfilled I have my notebook right there able to help me find my next idea and put it into action.
Do you have methods you use to keep yourself creative?

This wall hanging is not sideways. It is inspired by the emotional turmoil I was going through as I was forced to absorb a lot of difficult information, process it it quickly and still give every indication that the world was still bright and sunny. Making this quilt was very satisfying and it seemed relevant to anyone who heard what it represented. I still need to finish the quilting and binding this piece.