Category Archives: Ideas

2013/05/13 · 11:48

Surrounded by Ideas

Great Space of Creative Ideas. Digital artwork by Karen Gadient, 2013.

I had a dream last night where I saw the embodiment of ideas. My ideas, your ideas, or maybe all the ideas of Earth or the universe. Not really sure. But I got the vibe that ALL THE IDEAS was what I was looking at. And so, here goes:

It started out like a spirit guide, only a spark that I followed in darkness. It didn’t speak to me. Instead, it circled like a firefly—tiny and glowing. It had no true form and was made up of the elements. Fire, water, air, and even scattering bits of earth. It soon grew so that I could see its details better. Like a tiny galaxy, floating around the blackness where I stood.

Quickly—BAM—it expanded and surrounded me. Then it took me inside it and enveloped me so that I became part of it. I couldn’t see my hands or be sure that I still had a body. All I had was an intense warmth and the sensation of water washing over me, air I knew I was consciously breathing, and the view of what looked like a million little worlds before me.

Very super cool. I mean, I was a speck among specks, but it was awesome.

Now that I’m awake and back to reality, I’m left with a sense that we’re all so small and yet so powerful. Dreams like that drive me to not waste a moment of life.

Although I did take some time to create what I saw so that you could see it too.

Do you ever have dreams that stay with you and inspire you?

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Filed under Beliefs, Creativity, Digital Artwork, Dream Stories, Graphic Design, Ideas, Imagination, Inspiration, Journal, The Unknown

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2012/10/04 · 13:51

Halloween Pumpkin Carving

Harvest Pumpkins in October. Halloween time!

Since it’s October, I’m adding another post for ‘H’: Halloween!

The pumpkins are a’plenty around here and we’re going to carve up some of them. In recent years, our family has held pumpkin carving contests. This year, we’re thinking of getting a little crazy and carving something really ornate.

So, I’ve been crawling the web (hey—spider joke there) for ideas on how to cut up our pumpkins. Here are two of the sites I like best so far:

I don’t really look for instructions, just ideas. We try to figure out how to do it on our own. The more complicated designs that you always see on the news each year—those, we haven’t attempted. I’m no Ray Villafane.

We might just create something from scratch. The other day I noticed that there are more varieties of pumpkins available this year than last, including pink pumpkins. Those really appeal to me, so I might try something creative with that. In fact, perhaps this year we’ll only haul home unusual pumpkins to work with.

Guess I’ll use the orange ones for cooking. Mmmmm.

Anyone else have pumpkin carving plans this year?
Better still: do you have any great pumpkin recipes to share?

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Filed under Creativity, Holiday, Ideas, Journal, Life

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2012/07/12 · 13:14

Books and Covers

Debris Dreams - Earth and Moon cropped image.

Despite not having my art portfolio back online—that will be another post—I’m choosing to talk about book covers as I stay with my alphabetical postings.

I’m fortunate to be the cover designer of a fantastic book called Debris Dreams by David Colby, published by Candlemark & Gleam.

Debris Dreams is a realistic space-opera/military Young Adult novel about a multiracial lesbian teen living on a space station who gets drafted into a war between Lunar citizens and spacers/Earthers. She’s stranded in space, forced to join the marines, and quickly has to learn military discipline, how to kill, how to lead, and how to disobey orders when they’re about to, oh, kill everyone in horrible ways. All the while, dealing with the fact that, because of a terrorist act that started the war, she will not be able to go to Earth for at least twenty years—and therefore, may not actually see her Earther girlfriend ever. It’s thoughtful, scientifically sound, and heartbreakingly romantic.

For more: check out the site and read the sample chapter (the cover design isn’t up there yet). Download the faction logos—also designed by yours truly.

There, a little self-promotion. *nods* I’m not one to usually do that.
But, seriously… it’s a great book. Release date is November 2012.

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Filed under Art, Art Portfolio, Books, Freelance, Ideas, Science, Science Fiction, Space

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2011/10/28 · 14:00

Are there worlds within the eyes of cats?

Alternate Universe Cat

My cat loves to be spun around on an office chair until he’s purring with dizziness. He meows for this every day, often several times a day.

Lately, I’ve imagined that the chair is really a machine that can spin him through the veil into another universe–just for that brief time he’s actually in motion–and I wonder what he sees. Maybe his alternate self! Or maybe alternate me. Possibly deeper knowledge than any of that; answers he can’t communicate.

It could be that other universes lie within the eyes of cats. When you look close, their eyes are tiny galaxies with a black hole at the center. Perhaps things come and go, and are born and reborn, deep within the eyes of a cat.

Or maybe I’ve had too much coffee today. Likely, but it’s still fun to think about.

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Filed under Cats, Ideas, Imagination, Multiverse, The Unknown

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2011/10/22 · 14:40

Where do you start to write when you’re inside the writer’s block?

Inside the writer's block. A doorway out.

As we’re coming upon yet another NaNoWriMo, countless people are preparing to spend November madly writing 50,000 words and hoping those words resemble a novel at the end. It’s hard to know what to write about, especially with that kind of deadline.

This is an exercise I do to relax–a meditation of sorts–which can be used as a starting point into a story idea. At the very least, if you try it, you might have a little fun with your imagination.

You’re in a room without any windows or doors. It’s a colorless and soundless cube, and you’re all alone. You can’t see yourself, but you know you exist. You know this room is yours, and that it’s really a gateway to many places. And so, you create an exit.

A door, a window, a hatch, a hole… whatever portal you’d like. You can see it clearly form where you willed it. You go to it and through it.

Now outside of the block, your senses kick in. You’re in another place. It could be just outside your house, or in another country, or even during another time or on an entirely different world. Looking down, your body reflects wherever you are, as you’re dressed for the occasion, although you could be any gender or race, or not even human at all.

Others are approaching. Something is about to happen.

This is where your adventure begins. Write.
You’ve got your character’s feet. See where they take you.

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Filed under Creativity, Ideas, Imagination, Writing

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2011/10/12 · 21:05

Where do creative ideas come from?

Pool of inspiration

My dear friend Natania Barron and I have often talked about how creative folk draw from the same pool of inspiration. Some us call it the muse. Few of us can figure out how we travel to that magical source–frequently in dreams or arriving clear out of nowhere while we’re doing the dishes–but we’re grateful whenever it happens. We’re always reaching for it, muttering to it, and hoping it grants us yet another fantastic idea to add to our notebooks.

I’ve wondered lately whether we collectively add to this pool, and if it’s not really a source that has ideas waiting, but instead a place where our ideas gather, especially those ideas we obsess over, whether we use the ideas or not. For instance, I can spend months considering a concept, on and off, and then ultimately dismiss it, deciding instead on another direction. Then–bam!–that very concept appears in an article about some film or other project in development. I don’t mind; in fact, I’m pleased that, although I didn’t continue with the idea, it will come about all the same.

Could it be that I was merely helping this idea form?

Is it possible that we’re far more networked than we ever guessed–not alone in our craft at all?

So much for my professional hermit persona!

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Filed under Art, Beliefs, Friendship, Ideas, The Unknown, Writing

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