Creative thinking and how I exercise it - by @mariandavp

I tend to see patterns in this world. It’s not that I am in any way fond of conspiracy theories, no. By no means do I feel the need to intrigue my brain’s amygdala to find my place in a chaotic environment. But I do enjoy questioning my own perception of things.

I like looking at things with my eyes half closed, focus on their shapes and their shadows rather than on their details. I identify the resemblances among structures, before I open my eyes to their differences. Diversity is a beautiful thing, to the extent that our focus on it is meant to unite us, rather than to tear us apart.

Perception is equally important. The way we perceive things, defines our future and to a great extent our past. In art, the way we view the world will define the outcome of our effort. So you can draw a very realistic face, or a dog, or a vase, but if you do a perfect job in depicting your subject accurately you risk of creating a photograph and losing your identity as a creator.

It is the individual’s creative mind and imperfect technique that brings diversity in arts. At least this is my point of view. A convenient one too, since my technique is definitely imperfect, and my mind is constantly making surreal connections between unrelated information that pass through my hippocampus.

It is impossible for me to look at the clouds and not see something more than just clouds. My brain neurons will retrieve similar shapes, project them to the sky and eventually recreate the landscape. Long hours at work, not to mention doing a quite cynical and numerical job, could destroy this ability (or craziness) but I’ve found a way to preserve it. You may have seen numerous posts by me on office art and 3d mixed media techniques where I mix real objects with drawings, or create images using non artistic means. On its most basic two-dimensional form, a creation could be a collage of two seemingly unrelated objects with complimentary forms.

To give you an example I will use the map of Amazon River, whose shape I find to be extremely inspiring.

Now, look at these photos and try to think of objects with similar shapes. Try to recall images which either contain or are contained within similar forms. What do you see?

I see two snakes trying to escape the environmental disaster!

I see the belly of a pregnant native woman!

I can go on forever with this, but I have to get back to my technocratic job. Meanwhile, I would love it if you posted your own creative images!

Note: for creative editing of amazon google maps I used the most ordinary microsoft office accessorie; Paint