Wednesday, January 25, 2017

IDEAPHORIA: THE GENERATION OF IDEAS




Hey guys... it's Loren here.  I've got some ramblings about my art and creativity that some times runs a muck!  I want to share my process of thinking about creating and generating ideas and concepts.  I feel it is time to discuss the depths of creating and producing "ideas" and how it effects my life on a daily basis.  It may effect your life too!

Lately, I've been a little restless with my work and trying to find firm footing. I know that I am in love with making and creating things. I've been this way my entire life. The reality is that I want to do so many things, see so many ideas come to fruition that I some times get a little overloaded.  I have to take a step back and decompress from the influx of concepts, ideas, imagery and visual stimulus.  I think I have written about this some posts ago (I have to search for it)?  I am racked by what is now called "ideaphoria'.  Basically, it's being over run by ideas!  This can be a good thing for some but not for everyone.  Being able to go to battle with the flood of energy and captivation of thinking that comes from ideas is a tricky line to navigate.  In one respect, creators may have loads of ideas and realize that it is so, therefore they need to block some out just to down right function and move forward day to day.  But, then they,  as everyone would, they need to ask them self  "may I be blocking out good, viable ideas that will never see the light of day since they are suppressed or essentially removed from my consciousness?"   So, the game and tightrope walking begins.

What to sort through and eliminate is no easy feat I must admit in my own life.  New ideas need to be able to germinate inside for a while to even tell if they are descent , productive concepts. By then, I can be bogged down in the minutia of each idea and hence the overloading starts to takes place. Let me give an example of my own brand of "ideaphoria". Now let me also say, that this is my brand and thinking and creative experience with this process. Yours might be a different flavor or color so to speak.  Every person, I believe has their unique process of ideas and thought generating concepts/

Many times when I am out in public or anywhere for that matter and, I will see something in a store window perhaps that is bright and colorful.  It captivates my visual attention and senses so intensely, so magically and mysteriously, that I then experience a internal jolt inside my mind signalling that a new idea is being formed. I then experience what I call a "POP" sensation that goes out into my consciousness as a new idea or concept for something that appears to me.  The idea maybe be nothing like or even remotely similar to what triggered the idea in the first place.  It could be just a "glance" or a 'peek"at something and viola! the idea is born and processing in my mind.  This is what was happening to me so much, so intensely that I had to put the brakes on it it because it was clogging my memory and thought process. I had to constantly say to myself, "NO" as if I was talking to the child part of my mind like everyone has.  (they just show up differently for each of us)  Now don't get me wrong. This idea generating process is not all that bad. I have learned that it can create euphoria and an increase in certain brain chemicals like adrenaline and endorphins, as well as change brain activity (too much to go into here) that makes us feel super good.  I imagine it is like a runners high, but having it intermittently all day long!   If this idea generating process is not curtailed, it is in essence is like you are running here and there all day, everyday.  Imagine that? Sounds tiring just to write about it much less experience it in it's rare form.  This is what is so overwhelming about this brain idea creating and idea producing 'machine like' thinking process.   It is exhausting at times, stressful at others but mostly I say it's the most enjoyable fun one can have with their closest friend and toy like product, " their brain!"



There is one more thing I'd like to share about this creative way of thinking.  I want to discuss to tell about the life of the most brilliant man I have ever known and the one who was never, ever short of ideas, my Dad!  My smart, funny and so super creative Dad was the gasoline that made the car run and run in life he he did. He was a toy inventor for Kohner Bros. Toys and everything he looked at, everything he experienced was seen and felt through the lens of his intriguing, fascinating and brilliant mind.  He was playful, imaginative, innovative in every way.  His mind was always going even when he was working or drafting one thing, he was thinking up a slue of other products, toys and inventions at the same time!.  To me, he was the ultimate creator and one inventor that created the imaginary world we live in.  Nothing passed his spirit and soul without being absorbed into his brain and juggled around and then pushed back out producing sketches, drawings and demonstrations of the wildest, funniest things one can imagine.  He was said to have "done the work of what would have been five men", at Kohner Bros. Toys.!  He was prolific in every sense of the word. He used up every minute of time creating and his nourishment for a mind that was way ahead of it's time. Creativity was no laughing matter for my Dad, but then again, it was the laughing matter!  My Dad, the man who could create something, anything that would help one to leap tall buildings 'with out' needing a single bound.  The man that turned the creative world on his head, was not able to insulate himself from the stress of life and the enormous responsibility he had.  Four children and no 'Momma to care for my siblings and me.  My Gram helped and tried and did her best but it was fate that had already been handed down.  My Dad, the light of my life, the man who knew how to have fun and how to show me how to express myself and have fun too, as well as the creator who taught me how to live as a creative soul, tragically lost his life at the age of 40 from a heart attack
That was truly...the day the music died.

So, after that experience, life certainly moved on but it is lived from a different perspective and purpose. Everyone who has ever known me knows that creativity became and is now the center of my life with the 'ideaphoria' pattern of thinking becoming an everyday experience.  Now, when I experience the 'ideaphoria', I don't feel as annoyed, angry, frustrated or upset anymore as one would expect. Actually, I now welcome it at times because I think that every time an idea comes to my mind, it is a little message, a sign and reminder that my Dad is watching over me and filling my heart with lots of creative ideas and concepts which he loved so much. I feel it is a way of communicating with him. I carry on his legacy in a unusual way and hope that I share even some small amount of the extraordinary abilities my Dad may have passed down to me both genetically and experiential?

For me now, I have found a great way to deal with the overload that I have some times feel by writing my ideas ( if I can remember them), down in a specifically designated journal for inventions and ideas.  I find it frees up some mental space and leaves a little room internally to focus on the present! I highly recommend a visual journal for anyone who experiences 'ideaphoria' or just wants to record your ideas.  I don't concern myself with the quality of the sketches or drawings and ramblings of my ideas.  I just scribble them down as precisely as I can without being a perfectionist.

Well, that's a wrap up for this post.  Thanks so much for reading through this entire post.  It's certainly an important issue concerning some artists and inventors.  Leave a comment if you have any of your own ideas or thoughts about "ideaphoria".  I realize that we must all be patient with people who process ideas the way I have explained in this post , as I need to be patient with myself.  Keep creating and coming up with ideas.  It fills the world with love, happiness and joy!  Without it, we would wilt on the vine!
Cheers,
Loren

Monday, January 16, 2017

SEASCAPES, TIME AND NEW FRIENDS

'WHAT GOES ON AND ON'   12 5/8 x 3 1/2  acrylic on 1/8 inch matte board  (c) Loren Fidalgo 2016




                   
'STILL WATERS'      7 x 5        acrylic on matte board      (c) Loren Fidalgo 2016



                    SEASCAPES ARE ALL ABOUT 'TIME'
I am lovin' the process of painting these seascapes on 1/8 inch matte board.  The paint just glides across the surface and it lends itself to my process and technique perfectly.   Lately, I have been obsessed with time again .  Time passing, time ahead, time past and how much time is left.  These seascapes really let me get into the physical expression and energy as I try to put my message down on the board as quickly as I can so the paint does not dry before I've made my mark.   These seascapes are all about time in every way I can think of.        Time, time, time it's all about time.
                               
GIRLFRIENDS
Some fun news...I've been developing the beginnings of a wonderful friendship with a woman I've met at Fleisher Art Memorial.  Her name is Nina.  She is a fellow painter   (Abstract Expressionist).  Nina started painting at age 60 and is rocking the painting to the ma!.  You can see her work on her site   www.ninahopenklein.com    Her work is super and I think you will love it especially if you love abstract paintings.  We've been sharing information, tips and leads to help what I call 'our painting business'.  Nina had two pieces exhibited in Philadelphia at a studio/gallery industrial building for artists.  Her pieces looked great on the wall among about 60 other artists.  Nina, you go girl!!!
Cheers my friends,
Loren

Sunday, January 15, 2017

I'VE BEEN FALLING SLOWLY LITERALLY!

Hey guys...it's Loren here.  Been a bit of time since I filled you in on what is going on in my studio and life in general.  Lot's going on and many changes in the past few months.

                                   

                                     FALLING SLOWLY
I've had to take some time off from painting and life in general before Christmas and now because I have been having some medical issues.  I mentioned it in a blog post a ways back that I was having some mysterious problems walking..  Well, to be brief, I had been falling and falling a lot.  I have fallen 10 times in 2016!  The most serious was the time I got a concussion from landing backwards on my head on a cement floor.  I had to call 911 and go to hospital in ambulance.  Scary episode.

What had been causing me to fall had been a mystery to every doctor I saw.  I went to back doctors, knee doctors, spine doctors, neurologists, physical therapists, orthopedics and on and on.  It baffled the doctors.  I did find out that I have severe nerve damage in my legs however, no one thought that was why I was falling.  So, I had been having this problem for 2 years and it was a extremely upsetting and debilitating problem.  I couldn't walk anywhere without the fear that I would fall and just going to car would be too much and I did fall getting into the car 4 times.

I went to see a new neurologist and he was perplexed as well..  He said as he looked at me straight in the eye, "I don't know what is wrong with you!"  Needless to say, that after waiting 4 months to see him, I was devastated.  He had me get some blood work and thought I may have had a neurological problem called Myastenia Gravis.  But the tests showed up normal. On my last appointment, the neurologist said again that he didn't know what was wrong with me and I didn't fit any neurological disorder.  He did however nonchalantly and briefly check my blood work and he saw that my B12 level was really low!  Yep, that's right B12.  Well, it just so happens that a B12 deficiency can cause all kinds of neurological problems in the legs and when walking.  Also, I was walking in to things like doorways, tables lamps and so on. This also can be because of B12.  The other things that can be caused by B12 are severe anxiety, mood problems, balance problems and on and on.  The doctor told me he has never seen someone get better from B12 treatment!  Then he proceeded to tell me not to come back.  He didn't want to waste my time!!  He said "go to your primary Doctor and see about B12 injections."

So, I went to my primary and she wanted to do a second test to be sure and it came back that I was in the range but it was low/normal.  She agreed that I should try B12 injections (not pills they don't work) once a month for three months.  I just had my second shot and I have been able to walk a little better without getting numbness and tingling down my legs.  So that is really good.  I even managed to walk an hour at the mall before Christmas!  Before I could only walk about 20 feet and I'd get wobbly and was afraid of falling.  Now, I am waiting to see how I do with the shots for three months and get reevaluated to see if I need them for the rest of my life.  B12 shots are stored in the liver and pills are not.  The question I asked was "How did B12 level drop so low?'  One answer may be in that I was taking a heartburn medicine for another problem with my esophagus and the medicine can delete your B12 level.  Also, I was not eating a lot of meat and that can deplete it as well.

I am telling this story for everyone to beware of heartburn meds and B12 levels.  If you are taking heartburn medicine, get your B12 level checked to make sure it is normal.  B12 deficiency can be extremely serious and may cause permanent neurological problems.  In general I am feeling a little better.  It may take 6 -9 months for the neurological problems to get better if thay can.  I am hoping that I will be back to myself soon but in the meantime, I have started to paint again and am back in the swing of things.  No falling in a month!  I'd love to hear from anyone who has had B12 deficiency.  Please leave a comment.

REALLY WORKING THE SEASCAPES AND MORE
"FOLLOW THE LIGHT'   12 x 16 acrylic on watercolor paper    (c) Loren Fidalgo 2016

This is one of the paintings that really drew me into painting seascapes.  I love the texture in the sky and water.  I painted it solely with a palette knife. All of these seascapes and landscapes were painted during the time I was falling and I can see my instability in my paintings.  Can you?

STUDY IN TEXTURE,SPACE AND COLOR   24x18  acrylic on canvas  (c) Loren Fidalgo 2016
 Another experimental study in texture, space and color.  I am so in love with Prussian Blue and I can't use it enough these days. I especially love it with Crimson .  Mixed together or on top of each other, either way I am in love!

'STORM IS RAGING'       7 x 5         acrylic on matte board         (c) Loren Fidalgo 2016
This painting is really a mystery to me.  I can't decide if it is a seascape or a landscape?  When looking at it one way it looks like a long road out west on the way to California.  Then when I look at it again it looks like a stormy sky with raging clouds.  I really love it especially because of it's size. It's a petite size painting 7 x 5.  I have been working on all different size surfaces lately and it really shakes things up! I did a small series on 7 x 5 inch matte board and I really like the surface.  They are quick studies that have really turned out to be small and petite paintings in their own right.  I like to see something emerge on the surface quickly to quell my anxiety when starting a painting.  I never know what to expect.  The anticipation makes me unsettled for a few moments as I am beginning my painting.  So, these small pieces are a great way to get rid of the anxious feelings

Thanks for reading.  Remember get your B12 checked if you take meds for heartburn!
Cheers,
Loren