I started this lovely, cool Sunday morning on the porch with the newspaper. First news. Then the funnies. Then the word jumbles.

I noticed that my puzzle-solving takes two completely different approaches. With some words, I see the scrambled words, sort of blink, and the answer comes all at once.

With others, I painstakingly go through a process of trying out each letter as the initial letter, looking for patterns. Sometimes that also leads to an “aha.”

I have volunteered with first graders learning to read. I notice both approaches there too. They have a whole list of rules and patterns to tell them what sound a word will have. An “e” after a “c” turns it into the “s” sound.

Of course the goal is to have those rules become intuitive. The more experienced readers, those who will sit with a book on their own, or who have had the gift of adults reading to them, grasp their words in a more all-at-once way.

Working on some small collages this week, I have had the same experience in visual construction. Sometimes I look at a few pieces and just know how they should go.

Sometimes I feel completely flummoxed.

Then, it helps to walk myself through some rules one at a time to find the “aha.”

“You’ve got something big, now it’s time for something small. OK. You’ve got a dark-dark. Now where is your light-light? Are any parts fighting with each other? Have you made some connections?”

My experience is that both ways of thinking have their place.

Be grateful for the all-at-once grasp of an idea.

And allow yourself to rely on tried and true rules to get you there when it doesn’t come all at once.

Or, when inspiration does come all at once, but needs fine tuning and redirecting as the work progresses.

Finally – a stress confession. My inner being is way more stirred up than normal. I know it’s the election, and the combination of all that I am carrying inside about it: deep hope for change, belief that it’s possible, fear that it’s not a given. It is tumultuous, Scary. Unnerving. Important. And creativity-sucking.

I received this important reminder in an email I received just today from Empty Easel:

“But as artists, creatives, and visionaries, we are uniquely positioned to see the world in a different way than those around us. It's in our DNA—in how we think and live. And it's our right, and our privilege, to bring our perspective to the voting process.”

I send sincere hopes to all artmakers, art-appreciators and ordinary citizens for peace and the ability to forge on, whatever happens Tuesday. Stay well. Happy creating.

Thank you for reading. I always enjoy questions and comments.
--Bobbi
bobbi@bobbibaughstudio.com

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