Mary Stewart, Artist in Residence, was chosen to kick off the much anticipated and exciting “Art Week” at St. Mary’s College. She delivered her Creativity Lecture in Cole Cinema on Monday evening October 26, 2009. It was well attended and she did not disappoint.
Full of energy and wit, Stewart managed to provide us with exercises to get past artist’s block and open our imaginations to engineering new projects. Exercises designed to stimulate trains of thought, recombination of thoughts and ways to access previously unassociated elements were not just fun but enlightening.
I was impressed with how quickly she could teach her word association trick she had designed to access subject matter. More than that, she addressed a major roadblock experienced by many artists: the inability to consolidate. Most artists are encouraged to focus on “expanding their minds”, but selection might be a greater challenge. I appreciated Steward’s advice to first open and then “contract”. She gave the analogy of a snake eating. It must first open wide to partake, then contract to force the morsel in the right direction, an ever expanding and contracting process.
Stewart shared not just her intelligent approach but her exuberant joy of the art experience. She provided concrete methods to enhance our ability to create while finding ways to make the process more painless. In essence, she made it simple.
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