Whenever I am immersed in the creation of a collection, I make a stop and silence for a while to focus on the very own creation of the pieces. Inspiration appears in the most unexpected moments and places, but for me it arises from nature, trips, books, Art and its History.
As you know, in Aubarede 7 collections do not respond to seasons or trends, but are the result of a slow work, a dialogue among matter and the dreams and experiences that inspire our collections.
Aubarede 7 pieces are timeless not only because we believe in jewellery that has meaning beyond the moment in which it unites with a person and because we think it is the option for a conscious selection, but because we think the creative process has its own tempo and we like to dance to the rhythm.
Creativity usually does not come out of nowhere or spontaneously, it is the result of continuous work and a special attention to the world around us. As Picasso said:
“Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working” - Pablo Ruiz Picasso
Creativity requires silence, space and patience. One is truly creative when one has time to create silence, reflect, take a rest from stimuli and ideas surrounding us daily. This requires having space in life for creation, not only physical, but mainly psychological. And patience reminds us that the return for that space and silence with creativity comes with time and enjoying the process. Dalí summed it up nicely:
“The true painter is that whom is capable of painting extraordinary scenes in the middle of an empty desert. The true painter is that whom is capable to patiently paint a pear surrounded by the tumults of history” - Salvador Dalí
I am currently reading “Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, recommended by Bea, from Hello! Creatividad in their newsletter. The book is out-of-print in Spanish, but I bought a second-hand version and I am really liking it. The author writes about Creativity, capitalized, the one that occurs when a person makes a change in a domain, a change that will be transmitted through time and acknowledged by colleagues. I am finding it very interesting and I recommend it as source of inspiration to consider the creative work. Using his many years’ experience, Csikszentmihalyi states:
“The secret to a happy life is to learn to get flow from as many of the things we have to do as possible” - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Trusting the creative process and acknowledging that it grows when it has space is essential for creativity to bear fruit; it is a matter of work, patience, silence, contemplation and reflection, each of them with its cadence.
About patience in the creative process, William S. Burroughs said:
“Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer” - William S. Burroughs
This patience should be completed, additionally, with a silence that allows paying attention to what really matters:
“Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are.” - José Ortega y Gasset
“Creation is in part merely the business of forgoing the great and small distractions.” - E.B. White
And in the background, as a landscape that frames it all, the constant work that sparks everything:
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence ,then, is not an act, but a habit.” - Aristotle
“I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind just know it has got to get down to work.” - Pearl S. Buck
I take this opportunity to share my list of readings about creativity and the required silence to create, in case any of them is interesting for your summer reads, including some quotes that resonate with me and I find inspiring:
“Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
“Creative people are constantly surprised. They don’t assume that they understand what is happening around them, and they don’t assume that anybody else does either. They question the obvious—not out of contrariness but because they see the shortcomings of accepted explanations before the rest of us do. They sense problems before they are generally perceived and are able to define what they are.”
“Many of the peculiarities attributed to creative persons are really just ways to protect the focus of concentration so that they may lose themselves in the creative process. Distractions interrupt flow, and it may take hours to recover the peace of mind one needs to get on with the work. The more ambitious the task, the longer it takes to lose oneself in it, and the easier it is to get distracted.”
“the secret to a happy life is to learn to get flow from as many of the things we have to do as possible.”
“Making Ideas Happen. Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality” by Scott Belsky
“An idea can only become a reality once it is broken down into organised, actionable elements”
“Self-leadership is about awareness, tolerance, and not letting your own natural tendencies limit your potential”
“Diversity of opinions and circumstances increases the likelihood of ‘happy accidents.’ Serendipity comes from differences”
“All great inventions emerge from a long sequence of small sparks; the first idea often isn’t all that good, but thanks to collaboration it later sparks another idea, or it’s reinterpreted in an unexpected way. Collaboration brings small sparks together to generate breakthrough innovation.”
“Manage Your Day-To-Day: Build your routine, Find your Focus & Sharpen Your Creative Mind” by Jocelyn K. Glei
“Every time you’re doing something, you’re not doing something else. But you don’t really see what it is that you’re giving up. Especially when it comes to, let’s say, e-mail versus doing something that takes fifty hours.”
“Frequency keeps ideas fresh. You’re much more likely to spot surprising relationships and to see fresh connections among ideas, if your mind is constantly humming with issues related to your work.”
“Today, it is essential that we find solitude so that we can learn what it has to teach us, so that we can find the quiet to listen to our inner voice, and so that we may find the space to truly focus and create.”
“Essentialism. The Disciplined Pursuit of Less” by Greg McKeown
“Only once you give yourself permission to stop trying to do it all, to stop saying yes to everyone, can you make your highest contribution towards the things that really matter.”
“The way of the Essentialist is the relentless pursuit of less but better.”
“Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done.”
“Almost everything is noise, and a very few things are exceptionally valuable.”
“Ora et labora. The Invention of Intimacy” by Marcelo Cox
“We could define intimacy as the possibility of establishing a personal rhythm for one’s own life.”
“The Creative Act: A Way of Living” by Rick Rubin
“Living life as an artist is a practice. You are either engaging in the practice
or you’re not. It makes no sense to say you’re not good at it. It’s like saying, “I’m not good at being a monk.” You are either living as a monk or you’re not. We tend to think of the artist’s work as the output. The real work of the artist is a way of being in the world.”
“All that matters is that you are making something you love, to the best of your ability, here and now.”
“In terms of priority, inspiration comes first. You come next. The audience comes last.”
“Look for what you notice but no one else sees.”
“As artists, we seek to restore our childlike perception: a more innocent state of wonder and appreciation not tethered to utility or survival.”
“The act of creation is an attempt to enter a mysterious realm. A longing to transcend. What we create allows us to share glimpses of an inner landscape, one that is beyond our understanding. Art is our portal to the unseen world.”
“You Are an Artist: Assignments to Spark Creation” by Sarah Urist Green.
“Artworks can be transporting and transformative, but they are made by people. The individuals who make this stuff are not fundamentally different from any other humans.”
“There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear. In fact, try as we may to make a silence, we cannot.”
“The Creative Habit. Learn It and Use It For Life” by Twyla Tharp
“I read for growth, firmly believing that what you are today and what you will be in five years depends on two things: the people you meet and the books you read.”
“Creativity is a habit and the best creativity is the result of good work habits”
“The real secret of creativity is to go back and remember.”
“Movement stimulates our brains in ways we don't appreciate”
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I will continue sharing sources of inspiration for Aubarede 7 pieces and collections, here and in the newsletter. Until then, see you in social media, where I share sparks of the creativity that daily inspires me.
B.S.-
