NAN SANDERS POKERWINSKI
  • Home
  • Media
  • About
  • Contact
  • Atrocity (Novel)
  • MANGO RASH (Memoir)
  • Photography
  • Collages
  • Buy Books
  • Blog
  • EVENTS
  • Journalism

HeartWood
A blog about cultivating
creativity, connection and contentment
wherever you are

Crossover Creativity

6/15/2016

12 Comments

 
Picture
​The drawing you see here was done by a boy in his early teens, in the mid-1950s. Not so unusual in itself—countless boys have made similar drawings of rock bands. But what earned this drawing a place in a museum was the particular young artist who created it: James Marshall Hendrix, born Johnny Allen Hendrix, known to most of us as Jimi Hendrix. 

Picture
Jimi Hendrix
Picture
​
​I learned of Jimi's early artistic leanings on a recent trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, where the drawing is displayed. According to the accompanying text, Hendrix once dreamed of being a commercial artist. His father recalled that Jimi never had art lessons, but "he had a good hand and his ideas and imagination."

Picture



​​No kidding. Jimi's good hand, ideas and imagination, applied to music, were nothing short of mind-blowing. Kinda makes you glad that commercial art thing never panned out.

​People like Jimi Hendrix, whose creativity crosses boundaries—from visual to verbal to musical to culinary--fascinate me, and like anything, once you start looking, examples are everywhere.
​
Picture
​I found another at Rock Hall, in an exhibit on Graham Nash and his passion for making music and art—from his early days as a founding member of the Hollies to his years with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, to his later work as solo artist and photographer. Like Hendrix, Nash traces his interest in visual arts to childhood, when photography captured his imagination. Later, he not only made his own photos and experimented with digital imaging, he also collected photographs and other artifacts from the intersecting worlds of art, rock music and politics.

​I had never thought of collecting as a creative outlet, but a quote from Nash in the exhibit made it clear that he does. Unfortunately I didn't write down the quote (blame sensory overload and the approaching lunch hour), but it was something to the effect that he tries to engage in some creative activity every day; if he's not writing a song, he's making photographs or painting or collecting. 
Picture
​
​Not a bad way to live, whether or not you consider collecting a form of creative expression. (And I admit, after reading Nash's quote, I'm trying to look differently at Ray's habit of coming home from every trip to Harbor Freight with yet another free tape measure. That stash of nearly forty tape measures in his workshop is not a sign of hoarding, it's creative genius at work.) 

​Turns out, it's not just my husband and rock stars who practice crossover creativity. Many poets and authors regularly mix media. For example:
  • Isabel Allende, author of more than 20 books, makes beaded necklaces and keeps a work table for beading right next to the desk where she writes. Making jewelry and writing are similar, she notes in an article in the December 2015/January 2016 issue of AARP The Magazine. "In both cases, one needs to have an eye for detail and a vision of the whole."​
Picture
Isabel Allende. Photo by Lori Barra
​
  • Poet Natalie Scenters-Zapico, one of ten debut poets featured in this year's Inspiration Issue of Poets & Writers magazine, says she heads to the kitchen when writers' block strikes. "The repetitive motions of cooking keep me grounded in the body, but allow me the freedom to let my mind wander." 
Picture
  • ​Author Michelle Wildgen, whose novel You're Not You was made into a motion picture,  has used cooking, too, both as a creative outlet in itself and as a break from writing. "I like to make things. I'm happiest when I'm making things," she said in a 2010 interview in Poets & Writers magazine. "If I were to write fiction even eight hours a day, I would be exhausted. But I've found by doing different things, I can do a lot more. By thinking about a problem with one particular art form, it pushes me to think about another art form."
  • ​Jen Bervin started out as a visual artist, veered into poetry, and found a way of incorporating stitchery to create works that are both visual and verbal. For example, The Desert, released in 2008 as a limited edition of forty artist-books, is an erasure poem with zig-zag stitches obscuring the "erased" words.
Picture
  • ​After a long career as a writer, the iconic Annie Dillard has switched forms altogether to concentrate on painting (as well as reading). "I had a good forty years of writing," she said in an interview in the March/April 2016 issue of Poets & Writers. "There's no shame in stopping." Though she claims the faces she paints in oil on black-gessoed paper are "not really my art," she says painting "lets me make something new."
Picture
Annie Dillard. Photo by Phyllis Rose

​Reading about all these multiply-creative people absolves my guilt (if I ever had any) for leaving my writing desk and walking into the woods with my camera or hauling out my collage-making materials. These excursions into other art forms aren't procrastination or dilettantism, they're simply alternate ways of expressing myself. And while I'm exploring those alternatives, maybe I'll swing by Harbor Freight and pick up a few tape measures to add to Ray's collection. It's a creative thing.
​
​What's your creative thing, and how can you step beyond its boundaries?
12 Comments
J.Q. Rose link
6/15/2016 07:28:47 am

Thank you for pointing out the connection for creative people to allow themselves other outlets for their creativity. Red Skelton comes to mind. He was such a funny slapstick performer, but he also created gorgeous paintings of clowns. I like to write, but I also enjoy taking photos of nature. I even consider writing my blog as a creative outlet by putting together the words and graphics. I think your blog is so well done combining the information and the images. Would you consider the blog as a creative outlet for you? It's a far cry from memoir or scientific papers! Some day I'd like to take a trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame filled with nostalgia.from the glory days of rock and roll.

Reply
Nan
6/15/2016 07:51:26 am

It is interesting how many performers are/were also painters: Tony Bennett, John Mellencamp, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell (whose 1969 painting of Graham Nash is in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame exhibit mentioned above), Dennis Hopper, David Bowie, Johnny Depp, Anthony Hopkins, Janis Joplin . . .

Your blog absolutely is a creative endeavor, and I do consider mine an outlet for my creativity as well. Combining words and images is especially satisfying..

Reply
Laura Bailey
6/15/2016 08:00:42 am

I reduced my day job hours to part-time to pursue creative writing more seriously and started acting as well as writing more. I found that acting really stole time from the writing and drained my creative energy. I gave it up, as much as I liked it. I really admire people who can pursue multiple creative outlets. Now I cook. I can zone out while cooking. I'm not a "good" cook - I throw things together from cans and ingredients from my garden or frozen veggies while listening to audiobooks, and if I like the way it tastes, great. If not, that's okay too. Cooking doesn't require the same concentration as memorizing lines, so it's not taxing. I find it really fills that other creative need, and allows me to relax.

Reply
Nan
6/15/2016 08:36:13 am

Interesting perspective, Laura. I guess it can work both ways -- multiple interests can be energizing or distracting. I find cooking a relaxing mental break, too.

Reply
Susan Stec link
6/15/2016 09:06:31 am

I love to write. But there have been times when the words were not flowing for me. That's when I find another creative outlet to motivate me. I design book covers, marketing banners, paint with watercolors, or play with my stained glass. I've dragged out the sewing machine, the jewelry making kit, my embroidery tools, and so many other forms of expressing creativity.

Art clears my mind and often opens thoughts for those writing ideas I'd been looking for.

As always, I enjoy your articles, Nan. Thank you for sharing.

Reply
Nan
6/15/2016 01:07:14 pm

It doesn't surprise me that you are a crossover creative, Susan! I'd love to see some of your watercolors.

Reply
Colleen link
6/15/2016 09:24:19 am

Oh this is definitely true. Most writers I've talked to have another creative outlet, or even several. Many turn to photography. My other main one is music—in fact I was a musician before I was a writer. But it's fun to see these connections. :O)

Reply
Nan
6/15/2016 01:09:30 pm

I found this to be true of a lot of scientists, as well, especially with music. When I was an undergrad, deep into biology stuff, my other outlet was dance, and I ended up taking enough classes to qualify as a dance minor!

Reply
Michelle link
6/16/2016 10:22:14 am

I have noticed a lot of musicians are painters-- maybe those efforts use different sides of the brain? I used to do photography but found I did not have the time to perfect it and keep my writing career going. I do miss it

Reply
Nan
6/28/2016 08:18:20 am

I didn't realize you had given up photography, Michelle. Maybe you'll get back to it one of these days? I think one of the reasons playing around with photography appeals to me is that I'm not trying to perfect it, at least not to the extent I try with my writing. I am trying to get better at taking pictures, but it's really just for fun and for a break from writing.

Reply
Cris Trapani
7/3/2016 10:39:48 am

I love what Allende writes about beading and writing. I totally get it. I do off-loom beadweaving and knitting and find they connect in the exact way she mentions.

Reply
gold IRA companies reviews link
1/29/2025 04:38:08 am

"Gold IRA companies reviews" refer to customer feedback on companies offering Gold IRA services, focusing on factors like customer service, fees, and overall experience with setting up and managing a Gold IRA.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Written from the heart,
    from the heart of the woods
    Read the introduction to HeartWood here.

    Subscribe to HeartWood

    Available now!

    Picture
    Check with your favorite bookseller or order from the BUY BOOKS page on this website.
    Get updates on Mango Rash
    BUY MANGO RASH

    Author

    Nan Sanders Pokerwinski, a former journalist, writes memoir and personal essays, makes collages and likes to play outside. She lives in West Michigan with her husband, Ray.

    Archives

    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    April 2022
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016

    Categories

    All
    52 Frames
    Art
    Better Living
    Books
    Community
    Creativity
    Events
    Explorations
    Food
    Gardens
    Guest Posts
    Health
    Inspiration
    Last Wednesday Wisdom
    Local Artists
    Mecosta County
    Montcalm County
    Music
    Muskegon County
    Nature
    Newaygo County
    Oceana County
    People
    Photography
    Pure Michigan
    Reflection
    Return To Paradise
    Samoa
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Media
  • About
  • Contact
  • Atrocity (Novel)
  • MANGO RASH (Memoir)
  • Photography
  • Collages
  • Buy Books
  • Blog
  • EVENTS
  • Journalism