Still Here... And now, Writing Creativity

Well! It seems I can't be creative in my bead/jewelry crafting studio at the moment. My dog is still ALL puppy and he STILL thinks I'm his Momma. He saves up all his energy all day (I kid you not, Mr. Mellow all morning and most of the afternoon) and then gets pie-eyed crazy when I come home. He needs a walk, he needs to play, he needs my attention even if he doesn't want to do anything more than chew on his Soothie. I turn my back for even 5 minutes and someone is hollering for me to "come get [my] dog!"

That said, I've decided to go a slightly different creative route. Those who have seen my poetry know I enjoy writing. I also love trying to write stories but I'm not so great at it. I can do short stories - you know, 300 words or less kind of thing - but it's harder when you start talking novel-length stories. But I want to try. And I've got a pretty cool story in the works. It's inspired by an acquaintance who is a retired Veteran (you know how I feel about our Vets, too!) and he and his wife are very much into the Steampunk genre, Aether Pendragon and his wife Dr. Steamy Brassington (she creates aMAYzing jewelry, among other things, and he makes contraptions!).

I've already got a short story I wrote on Dr. Brassy and I'm now calling it the Prologue to my story I'm working on about Aether and, I've decided, I want to share them with you. In part, because I've been gone so long and I don't want anyone thinking I've fallen off the edge of the World and, in part, because I can be creative and set it aside easily when I need to "come get your dog!" again. I'm going to try and do this at least once a month. I can't promise more than that right now until my dog is less clingy but also because I take forever to write things. I hand write it out, then I go put it on the computer (making adjustments as I go), then I re-read it and make more adjustment. It's really a never-ending process that I have to force myself to knock off so others can read, if they want to. Which brings me to the Prologue (formerly known as "The Brass Maker's Fire"). Enjoy!

THE BRASS MAKER'S FIRE

Deep in the verdant forest sat a cottage of finely burnished wood and metals. The slated roof, covered in deep green moss, was slanted just enough to allow any rain to run off into the catch barrels placed strategically at each corner. Windows, now covered by shutters of a complementary wood and latched by patinaed copper forms, faced both North and South – a most auspicious placement for a Maker.

Within the cottage a Makeress sat before a Makers Fire concentrating on a gold nugget that floated in the air before her. Eyes the blue of a winter’s lake glowed with an inner fire of their own as an unfelt wind caressed her deep auburn curls while she studied the nugget. To her left sat a small tower made of Zebra wood and fine leather dyed a rich burgundy. Copper, brass, and steel gears showed through the glass encased sides of the tower but no clock face or other obvious reason for the gears was in evidence, yet the wear and grease on the cogs and teeth showed their constant use. To her right was a table with glass bottles of various sizes and holding a multi-hued assortment of liquids. Some carried a seal warning of their dangerous nature. Some had different pieces of metal hanging in their liquids which bubbled and frothed. Some had an extremely pungent aroma.

The Makeress gracefully lifted her right hand and cupped it just under the floating bit of gold without actually touching it. With her left hand she reached up to the leather band around her forehead and adjusted an eye piece, much like a jeweler’s loupe, down in front of her eye. It began to glow a luminous blue as she leaned forward to carefully examine the gold in detail. Satisfied, she nodded to herself and pushed the loupe away as the glow faded. Still graceful, she gestured with her left hand and the gold floated into the Makers Fire. The flames parted to accept the gold, closing about it and, at the Makeress’s further gesture, the flames turned from gold, to silver, to blue, before they settled to a deep, sunset orange with hints of red and black.

Chanting softly, the Makeress recited the Words of Calling with careful precision even as her hands sketched the Signs of Binding in the air between her and the Fire. To her left, the gears in the wood and glass tower began to move with smooth, silent efficiency. To her right, a beaker half filled with red liquid, and another with a burnished gold liquid, began to bubble with vigor. Still in her soft voice, she spoke the final words, gently made the final gesture, and a bell’s tones seemed to peel from the gear tower. At its musical, sustained tone the liquids bubbling within the two beakers shot out and into the Makers Fire. A roar resounded from the Fire’s depths, filling the room and rattling the glass on the table and in the tower before it faded away.

She gestured again and the Fires parted to reveal a transformed piece of gold. It now resembled a nobleman’s pocket watch except there seemed to be a deep hole in its center. Another gesture from her and a tongue of the Makers Fire gently bore it forward to leave it hanging before her eyes once more. The hole now showed what seemed to be a closed eye through it. With a satisfied smile the Makeress whispered. “Awake.”

The eyelid, a deep burnished orange, slowly blinked open and a red and black iris appeared. The pupil, slit like a cat’s eye – or a dragon’s – seemed to fluctuate before focusing on her, then a voice spoke.

“Who has Called me?” The voice was at once a deep, rich bass and a musically ringing soprano. So rich its tones seemed to vibrate in the Makeress’s very bones. The Makeress smiled again.

“I have, Ancient One. Our need is great and you are summoned to aide us in this time.”

The eye examined the woman.

“Only me? The need is not so great, then, and you are foolish to waken me.”

“No, Ancient One. Not you, alone. Many of your brothers and sisters have already been Called and I will Call many more. Will you aide us?”

“The choice is not mine to make.” The voice rumbled aggressively. “You have made the Calling and created the Binding. I must Answer.”

“Nay. I hold none against their will. Look. Look deep within and you will see those who chose to aide and those who refused.”

There was silence as the eye seemed to look inward for many long moments, then it focused on her once more with slightly less suspicion. “I can refuse?”

She nodded. “With no consequences to you or yours, Ancient One. There is a war coming. Not all can help, or even are willing to do so. I respect that. I only ask you hear before you decide.”

The eye considered her again before it replied. “Speak, then. Though I offer no great hope. This portal is too small for such as I to Pass Through.”

“You are not required in your Entire Being. Only the aide of your Sight is needed, if you will grant it.”

“It would take a strong mind and even stronger will to use the Sight summoned by such as I and my kin. Our visions are rarely a blessing and more of a curse. Nightmares.”

The Makeress’s smile widened. “Sightmares, we call them. Yes, we know. Many are in training to accept what you show and to learn how to understand and translate what is seen. Only the Wild Ancients have this great and terrible Power. We will learn or die.”

The eye appeared to smile. “I believe I like you, Little One. I am known as Orick the Feared. How are you called?”

“I am the Brass Maker.” And the Makeress’s smile filled with satisfaction as she placed the final Binding upon Orick.

© Copyright 2013 Pam Sears (UN: condorsfan at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.

A Creative Challenge To All

Bet'cher wondering what THIS is all about!  Welp! I've been reading, lately, on several of the blogs I follow (as well as number of FB pal's pages) that there is a dearth of creativity. Mental blockage has occured. The Muse has gone on vacation. The heart rending question of "what do YOU do to counteract this inspirational drought?" has popped up everywhere. Well, here's what you do; something else.

No, really, something else that exercises your creative muscles, but has nothing to do with your normal creative exercises, will (usually) bring the inspirational rains. Draw. Do some Creative Writing (with a limit on # of words). Play an instrument (that's usually soothing). Take photographs of odd things you wouldn't normally take. Dance.

Here's my contribution and a Challenge to all who read this: this week, you must write a short story about the above pictured ring and post it to your blog. Here are the rules; 1) no more that 250 words. Period (I will count!)  2) It can be any genre of creative writing you want except erotica (this is a family friendly blog, keep it G or PG).  3) You must post it to your blog or FB page by Friday, the 7th of February (yes, short time frame, but it kick-starts the inspirations). 4) You may put a link to your blog or FB page in the comments section of this post for us to follow and read.

That's it! Hope y'all take up the challenge. I'll do the same and we'll see what the Muse inspires. Have fun! And see you Friday Evening for the Creative Writing Reveal!

Why Creative People Are A Puzzle To Others

I have, in my youth, been accused of being a "schizophrenic thinker" and I have to agree. If you have a conversation with me, we're going to chase conversational rabbits. We may start out talking about Mary Shelly's Frankenstein Monster and end up twenty minutes later discussing why Curly Joe was the best Globetrotter player over Meadowlark Lemon.  0_o*  HOW did we get from monsters to basketball? Because something was said that lead down one rabbet trail to another to another until we reached Curly Joe (which would, eventually, lead to Curly as the best of the 3 Stooges, ever! Just ignore Shemp and Joe - although I'll take Shemp over Joe any day... SEE?!?)

I'm very much the same in my creative efforts. I play the piano (not as well as I should, but I do), I write, I create with beads, metal, and (someday) poly clay and have my eye on metal clay, I draw & paint (again, not as well as I should/could, but I do), I play with a camera & photography.... Again, with the schizophrenic thinking, eh?  Show of hands, how many of you are just as schizophrenic in your creativity?  Well, guess what?  This is normal for us!

Not that being like this ever bothered me. No one ever made fun of me for it so I never thought about it. Apparently my friends are either as crazy as me or just enjoy the ride.  That being said, let me share a link to an article I saw on my FB news feed the other day. It was written by Matthew Schuler and he found a book written by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly called  Creativity: The Work and Lives of 91 Eminent People.  Matthew gives us a few of the highlights from Mihaly's work including this line;  “I have devoted 30 years of research to how creative people live and work, to make more understandable the mysterious process by which they come up with new ideas and new things. If I had to express in one word what makes their personalities different from others, it’s complexity. They show tendencies of thought and action that in most people are segregated. They contain contradictory extremes; instead of being an individual, each of them is a multitude.”

As I read through the 9 contradictory traits described by Mihaly, my first reaction to each was "No, that's not me." But, as I read the full discription (not just the start) I realized that, a) yes, it did too fit me and, b) I really am a "multitude". Well, a multitude of ideas and thoughts and need to do's. Go read Matthew's article here and find out just how much of yourself is a mulititude. Learn why we're such a puzzle to the (supposedly) "Normal People."

Creative people really do live in our own little world, but it's okay. They know us here.

A Clean(er) Studio & More Fishes-n-Loaves

I am one who creates in the midst of chaos.  I pull out beads from here, and findings from there, and wire/chain from the other place and just play until a design seems to shape itself.  Sadly, I have a hard time putting the leftovers back where I found them.  I tend to leave them out because, hey, they sparked one idea already they might cause another one!

But, even I finally couldn't take it anymore.  I picked up the bigger pieces, moved things around to get at the smaller pieces, and swept the lot of them into a large bowl I usually have water in to quench my metal work.

Then it sat there, all forlorn, for two days while I worked up the nerve to finish cleaning without stopping to play.  So, here's a few shots of the clean(er) studio:


The "main" area, table with drawers (you can get them
at Lowe's!) and you can see the bits & wood support for my
drill along with various boxes for other equipment underneath.

 

Left side table where some of the mess went until I could rearrange
it better.... it's been further cleaned but it still needs some work.
Let's see, leather roll, beads, findings, brushes, clay carving tools,
barrel for my rock/metal tumbler, pasta maching, notebooks
for inspirational pictures I love, box full of magazines (for a future
destashing contest.... which is coming soon, keep watching!)

 

Bookshelf that's, mostly, used for more bead and
findings stashes as well as other accessories for
beading and metal work. One smaaaall area for
books... 2nd shelf, far left side you can see some
bead books next to the findings stash. Boards
on the side of the shelf for holding earrings and,
on the floor under a book, is my toaster oven for
when I'm brave enough to play with poly-clay.

It's actually even cleaner than what's pictured but I doubt it'll last long! (hahHA!)

After finally getting the worst of it cleaned up (yes, there's still somewhat of a mess there), I sat down and began banging on some washers.  Those are still in the "Come-Along" process and I will show you when they're ready. I will tell you I'm using more beads from Bill @ ZNetShows.com in the design.

BUT!! Since it's not nice to tease, (usually ~snerk~) I will show you some pics of the earrings I made while my metal was tumbling.  I'm still working to refine (and, I hope, expand) my Fishes & Loaves series. Here are the earrings I made this past weekend:

Sorry for the blur on any of the pics. Low light and iPhone cameras don't always cooperate.  My next piece will be (I hope!) a bracelet incorporating the fish sign and the beads. Check back, I'll let you know if it worked ;)