Creativity at Play

Becoming an experienced baker myself over the course of two years I have learned a lot about baking and what it can teach any curious soul willing to try it out. Many of these lessons I've already written on in past posts but have decided to combine all those lessons in this one post to make it an easy one stop read through for any reassurances or tips fellow bakers may be interested in hearing or knowing about. From one baker to another- this is for you: The Rules of Bake Club: 1. Do it for yourself because it is something you enjoy and want to share (not for other's approval): This could probably be considered a common lesson in many of my recipes but especially those that I've tried out for the first time on family and most recently. I've always enjoyed the process of baking- it's very therapeutic to simply follow along and come out with something delicious after trying a new recipe but somethings it can be hard not to look for that confirmation/approval fr...

This is a continuation of Part 1: The Top Ten Things Every Beginner Baker Should Know , and the final five tips of that list. Seeing how the last list got a little long, I decided to break it into two parts so it's easier to read and hopefully follow. Also these tips may be more practical and simpler when it comes to the actual application of baking: Final Rules of Bake Club: 6. Sometimes recipes won't specific what the temperature the butter should be at when incorporating into recipes . Most will though- i.e. let butter softened at room temperature or melt butter in microwave. If it doesn't though and the recipe calls for butter in frosting the general understanding is that it's easier to mix in with the other ingredients if it is at room temperature soft before adding in other ingredients and mixing. 7. I f the recipe specifics both systems of measurement (i.e. grams and teaspoons) chose one and stick with it for all ingredients because the conversions may not ...

An Update into What I've Been Doing and Notes on a Fresh Start! (P.S. This is mainly for myself)  It feels good to be back after not posting in a while. There is lots to catch-up on and that I want to write about even for my own self that seems worth noting. First off I intentionally chose to take it easy in May as far as any new or big projects. There was a lot I had to deal with and survive during that time that putting the extra pressure on myself won't and just didn't make sense. It wasn't easy, with creativity always being a great outlet for myself and the ability to express or want to express my experiences having to say "you know what this isn't the time to worry about this" but it was the best thing for me to do at the time. Doing so allowed me to recuperate and get the added rest I needed after the month's rough start and made moving forward easier. Now occasionally I was able to do a bit of creating during that time, for instance I lear...

Lessons in Creativity and Gardening; and the Connection between the Two! I hadn't realized this until taking a good look at my struggling plants desperately in need of water and my squelched recent creativity that there is a connection between the two, and that is both need to be cultivated. I've learned through taking care of the greenery that by doing this it's not just one type of care for all plants- each has it's own type of care instructions and therefore needs to be tended to differently. For some plants- such as succulents, they don't take as much care or water- whereas others like flowering plants need a little more TLC and sunshine. Both in the end need these three things from you: love, a certain level of commitment to keep happy, and most importantly patience . I've learned through the years that being creative takes similar efforts and considerations to grow our gardens as it does to cultivate a creative life. When first starting out it can t...

"The Creative Mind Plays with Objects it Loves"~ Carl Jung Given the fun and light-hearted experience of this year I thought this would be a great quote to pass onto any intrepid and curious creatives out there to inspire your own adventures and endeavours in creativity as it has inspired me. What I like best is that it hints that being creative is best as a "fun" "light-hearted" experience or exploration because the creative mind plays with what it loves; not studies, perfects, or beats oneself up over but rather plays with those things . It has served as a good reminder to me that my project (the Creative Challenge) is a fun thing, and therefore something not to take too seriously or beat myself up if things don't go exactly as planned because it's supposed to be fun and playful thing. Although it can be hard to remember in the midst of trying to figure things out, plan, fit everything in, get everything in on schedule and make it a huge ...

A Trip Down Memory Lane, Experiencing the Group of Seven first hand, and an aspiring artist's reward Written for: Wednesday March 29 With March being a great month of exploring the world of using pastels and experimenting I found it about time for a reward and burst of inspiration to help further explore this form of creativity and what better place to visit than the McMichael Art Gallery- home to the Group of Seven's artwork and much more. So with that decided I put the plan in motion to head back to there and revisit the gallery a second time. I looked forward to this trip after it being so long since the first time a second visit I'd hope would give me a greater chance to appreciate the artwork and doing it myself to appreciate the artist's styles and efforts.   Group of Seven The feeling of familiarity came almost instantly as we drove down the long driveway into the art gallery as if it were almost yesterday I was there. Now it wasn't just the b...

Introducing Dabbing and Creating Clouds Well as intended I finally got the chance to learn a new technique for the month of learning pastels. This time it was experimenting making clouds and applying a dabbling technique to make them look light and fluffy (that same interesting term used in baking, now appears a part of clouds I wonder which came first...). Having it be a while since I first took a lesson in between experimenting on my own and learning techniques I was nervous about returning but decided that since growing as a pastel artist means being open to improving and taking on techniques it was time to learn more on how to expand on my own style. Feeling more comfortable using them on my own and less intimidated by the pastels it made sense to transition into another technique. My pastel hands were ready to take on another experience.  Morning sun, created March 22/2017, first attempt using dabbing effect to create clouds. An intimidating second-err-third step, ...