Five {5} Creative Questions with Karen Gielen

I am happy to introduce Karen Gielen this month, as she answers Five {5} Creative Questions.

Karen is a mother, artist, writer, and graphic designer. At 69% right and 31% left, she is considered an extremely right brain dominant thinker. Her interests include portrait illustration, advertising and marketing, graphic design, painting, singing, writing poetry and children’s stories, knitwear designing, photography, and numerous arts and crafts. Her repertoire of creative interests is constantly changing and she is learning that she needs to allow her creativity to flow where it wants to flow. Some days it wants to come out in her writing and some days only a pencil or paint brush will do.

Find Karen online blogging or tweeting under the handle cre8tivkj.

I believe creativity is something everyone is born with. It is taking our thoughts, emotions, and experiences and turning them into something others can touch, see, or hear. As human beings we are all meant to be creative. It pains me when I hear people say they do not have or they are not very creative.

2. What is your creative process, and what tools do you use to stimulate it?
My creative process varies from day to day. Some days it just flows and words and images come without effort. Other days I need to allow a problem to incubate after researching and brainstorming. I tend to be an internal problem solver and I don’t usually pass my ideas by others before executing them. I am inspired by many things. Sometimes I will draw an image that comes to me in a dream. Nature can inspire a poem or a painting. I can overhear a conversation that will spark an idea for creative expression. Sometimes necessity will drive me to create something to serve my own purpose. Other times I will play and explore and creative ideas start flowing. My creativity usually has a domino effect, one idea will spark an idea for a completely different type of expression, when I write a poem it will spark an idea for a short story or a painting, etc.

I have many creative times during my day. When I wake up, often times I will have pictures in my mind that I will sketch out and sometimes I will paint or draw them in more detail later. I have had entire children’s books clearly defined in my mind when I wake up. My creative juices will start flowing while I run, shower, and many times when I am trying to go to sleep at night.

Since I have small children and a very busy household, my environment is often times very chaotic and noisy, if I don’t have a piece of paper or sketchbook handy at all times I will lose ideas quickly. Whenever I get a quiet moment I cherish it and I’ll sit down and write or draw. I am working on finding balance between my busy household, caring for my children and nourishing my creative spirit.

The more ways you find to express your creativity the more creative you will be. When you have many experiences to draw from when addressing a problem or even expressing yourself, often times, you can take techniques from one area and apply them to another in a new and creative way. Also, allow yourself the opportunity to play. When we play our minds relax and creativity is more apt to flow. I have found if I discover on my own how to do something I am more creative with a medium.

• THANKS! Karen.