January 3

An old favourite

I’ve been doing lots of photography today, looking at colours in particular. I did a short spell on my accounts, some e-mails, a bit of reading, some cooking…you get the idea. As the day progressed I was intrigued how one activity prompted something else, how the distraction of doing my accounts helped me come back to my photography assignment anew.

It all put me in mind of an old RSAanimate favourite that I revisited this evening. If you are interested in learning and how the brain works I can really recommend The Divided Brain. It moves away from the old debate about Left Brain/Right Brain and builds more on notions of the Intuitive and Rational minds and how we have come to privilege one over the other. Enjoy!

 

Category: Blog | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 3

Primary and Secondary Colours 6

Title: Green

Exercise: Using the primary and secondary colour wheel find scenes that are dominated by a single colour. With each colour that you find vary the exposure slightly to produce an image that most closely matches your desired colour.

Take your time. Try not to concentrate on artificial colours, make sure you examine the natural colours of materials too. Use the experience to develop and refine your colour sense.

Approach: It seemed the one colour there was an abundance of was green and mainly in its natural form.

January 3

Primary and Secondary Colours 5

Title: Blue

Exercise: Using the primary and secondary colour wheel find scenes that are dominated by a single colour. With each colour that you find vary the exposure slightly to produce an image that most closely matches your desired colour.

Take your time. Try not to concentrate on artificial colours, make sure you examine the natural colours of materials too. Use the experience to develop and refine your colour sense.

Approach: I thought that blue would be relatively straightforward but at this time of the year I struggled to find any natural blues.

January 3

Primary and Secondary Colours 4

Title: Purple

Exercise: Using the primary and secondary colour wheel find scenes that are dominated by a single colour. With each colour that you find vary the exposure slightly to produce an image that most closely matches your desired colour.

Take your time. Try not to concentrate on artificial colours, make sure you examine the natural colours of materials too. Use the experience to develop and refine your colour sense.

Approach: Finding different purples proved to be a bit of a challenge and I probably took these over the longest timespan.

January 3

Primary and Secondary Colours 3

Title: Red

Exercise: Using the primary and secondary colour wheel find scenes that are dominated by a single colour. With each colour that you find vary the exposure slightly to produce an image that most closely matches your desired colour.

Take your time. Try not to concentrate on artificial colours, make sure you examine the natural colours of materials too. Use the experience to develop and refine your colour sense.

Approach: Finding different reds was not as difficult as I first imagined it might be and I was able to source a combination of both naturally occurring and manufactured colours. I did find photographing red quite difficult in terms of getting the right tone and hue.

January 2

Practical Focus

Having spent most of the day filing (ugh!) and using that as a means of reviewing last year I was really struck by the many directions my curiosity had taken me in. One of the joys of working freelance is that I can generally  go where my energy and interests take me. My research led me to examining mergers and acquisitions, exploring the use of the visual research methods and looking at double binds in relation to learning. Through my consultancy and coaching I have worked with theatres, galleries, dance companies, festivals and individual creatives. I have been improving my photography, learning British Sign Language, and even doing some drawing. I feel really lucky to have had the opportunities I’ve had.

That said it feels like 2013 is the time to focus in on a few areas that I can work at exploiting in more depth. I do not imagine that it is going to be an easy year in the arts and cultural sector; the full impact of the Arts Council’s latest restructure is yet to be felt, more local authorities are announcing cut backs, and the public sector will continue to contract.

I am keen to find some practical responses to these ongoing changes that I can share with other like-minded enterprising individuals. If you are going through a similar process and haven’t already come across it I can recommend Business Model You. It works well for me because of its visual, one page format. I have found it a really powerful tool for pulling together and testing out my ideas.

Category: Blog | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 2

Primary and Secondary Colours 2

Title: Yellow

Exercise: Using the primary and secondary colour wheel find scenes that are dominated by a single colour. With each colour that you find vary the exposure slightly to produce an image that most closely matches your desired colour.

Take your time. Try not to concentrate on artificial colours, make sure you examine the natural colours of materials too. Use the experience to develop and refine your colour sense.

Approach: Undertaking this exercise in late Autumn has proved challenging although I did find examples of foliage and the last remaining poppies. As far as possible I have tried to find naturally occurring yellows but I was drawn to the waterproof fabric as the yellow was so strong.

January 1

In the quiet space

Here we are at the beginning of 2013, and as I emerge out of the fog of flu I can finally start to focus on the year ahead. This is not about resolutions or predictions; it is simply a chance, in this quiet space before the phone starts to ring again and the e-mails pile up, to think about the direction I might want to take.

I like Seth Godin’s approach that suggests taking stock, more of an inventory. Thinking about what I gained in 2012 and what I need to improve on – opportunities I may have missed that I need to revisit. All in all it feels like there is a more of a need for a move to action than ever.

I have also played with my cosmic ordering cards and several things came up – being mindful of my connectivity and how I use my energy, managing negatively toned emotions and the barriers they create, and using my dreams more creatively.

I was encouraged by one card to take a good look at myself in the mirror and ask the question

‘Who do I see?’

 

Category: Blog | LEAVE A COMMENT