Creativity Focusing

INFOBOX Understanding Creativity

Creativity is usually associated with curiosity, imagination, and expressiveness. Creativity is seen as the ability to develop original work, theories, techniques, or thoughts

In the arts, creativity is 'the potential of persons to produce creative works whether or not they have produced any work as yet' (John R. Hayes, from: The Psychology of Creativity, Lesley University). The artistic creative process is multi-dimensional and complex, often an act between and across disciplinary boundaries

Creativity in Felt Sense Arts can be described as acts of interdisciplinary expression, drawing on the full range of artistic expression across all media, modalities and art tradititons. Experiential creativity teaches you to feel, think and act differently in life

We follow the idea of Experiential Creativity as described by the Focusing founder Prof. Eugene Gendlin. One aspect of Gendlin's understanding of creativity is the ability to stay in focus in the zone of ambiguity where one can see something coming that has not yet taken emotional or artistic form, while other forms are already in the making. This ability to tolerate ambiguity, to stay open and to be with what feels unclear as it is forming, is grounded in the Focusing Felt Sense. There is a Body Shift as the new form finally comes into expression

Our Creativity Focusing workshops follow the understanding of interdisciplinary creativity as set out by the Education Department of the MoMA Modern Museum of Arts, New York

Creativity Focusing makes a life and art of wonder and change

Owning Your Creative Being-and-Becoming

Creativity Focusing uses a practice called Arts To Focusing Joy (AFJ). Arts to Focusing Joy celebrates the joy of owning your creative being-and-becoming

Focusing Joy is to be found in the one place that is always there for you. You can't miss it as this place is your living body. Actually you are your living body

Your living body is a being-and-becoming, means: There is more than just a body that 'is' or 'lives'. The living body is no physical thing nor some existential dimension. The living body is a moving forward towards something and a pointing towards something that always is a new becoming

You may lose your creative spark and your joy of being-and becoming now and then, along with your connection to you being your body. You may come to moments where you cannot feel the body from within at all. But as the living body is always there, is always you, you can find back to feeling your body and the place inside of your body that is home. You can get back to your creativity and Focusing Joy by doing art that comes from movement and intuition. Continuity in doing embodied arts is the doorway to finding your way back home

Infinite Possibilities

Your Body has infinite possibilities of forwarding a More of aliveness. Your aliveness has infinite possiblities to show up and get expressed. Artistic expression has infinite possiblities as invitation

The moment your are expressing yourself through arts that come from the body, you are connected to this multitude of infinite possibilities

Access to all of these possibilities comes with a joy that only you can have. It's the joy of being your creative living forward. This joy is the seed for action that can turn your life upside down toward living creatively to the fullest

Felt Sense: Art Buddy and Creativity Guide

Your Felt Sense or body sense is a vage kinaesthetic body feeling inside, giving information of how it is like to live a situation

The body sense is owned by your body to hundred percent. It is stronger by nature than set up intentions, self-doubts or the Inner Critic

Your body wants you to live, that's what your body is made for. To make you live, your body sense is serving you. The body sense is supporting all parts of you to make you grow ... even when you feel stuck and suffer from self-doubts

For to make you grow, your body is highly creative in getting negative conversations inside silenced down. In fact your body is supportive in transforming your negative conversations first and for the most. For that your body allows you to receive ongoing information coming freshly  from the Felt Sense

The creative force of the body sense and your inner artist (the natural force of creativity) are one. The voice of your inner artist can express in many artistic voices. It's perhaps the most vulnerable part of you and the part that speaks your most authentic evolutionary language

To pursue what is the most of your creative self, you need the strongest kind of support possible. The strongest support is support from inside-out and outside-in support. The inside-out support happens when your inner artist is getting uplifted through what we call Felt Sense arts

Felt Sense Arts

Art-making from the Felt Sense emerges from the body and the body's being-and-becoming. Practicing Felt Sense arts always leads to a next being-and-becoming (both in the body and in your artwork). This next always feels fresh

Felt Sense arts gets you unstuck. It is a moving forward, a pointing to a More of what activates your inner artist to get stronger and stronger. This forward movement is unstoppable

When you listen to your Felt Sense as you engage with the arts, you land at a place that feels like spark land. You will find powerful, personal art expression and creative highlights

The more you create along the path of Felt Sense arts, the more you will notice your inner voices being transformed. They change from doubts to creative advisors you will not want to miss on your journey towards the landscapes of Spark-Land

Creative Spark-Land

Artistic talent or experience in making art has nothing to do with coming to a place that feels like creative spark-land

What is needed to get there is to know about the creativity of the mind, the three basic principles of art making (external support) and to process your art bodily (internal support). You are supported by psychological information and art information, and you are supported by the experience of art making itself. Both internal and external support make your art bolder and more you

The three basic art principles (design, value and color) are doable for anyone, regardless of prior artistic knowledge (or lack thereof). Working through them keeps your inner artist awake. This can be important at times, as taking artistic risks can make you feel vulnerable and in need of support. As a side effect, you will create artwork you love

Toward Focusing Joy

We inform you how creativity works from a Focusing perspective and teach you the three main principles of art making (design, value and color). We guide you through the steps of artistically processing these principles into the land of your Focusing Joy (outside-in support direction)

Focusing Joy is different for each of us, so there is nor right or wrong in where you land

Exploring the arts that you love will transcend the average. It will transform your creative spark into radiance: You do art that is and becomes the most of you

Creativity Focusing as a practice can take benefit from the principles of Sensual Design as developed by Prof. Knubel, Department 4, University of Essen-Duisburg, GER, Research Project 1980/1983

INFOBOX Arts To Focusing Joy Practices

  • Embodied Doodling: A spontaneous, repetitive art activity that serves as a warm-up for creating Felt Sense artwork

  • Body-Based Abstract Painting: Enhancine your aesthetic awareness through taking artistic risks based on your body's wisdom

  • Experiential Collaging: Finding and expressing aesthetic meaning through outside-in and inside-out felt sensing

  • Expressive Portraits: Get mirrored by your inner artist's loving eye and gain a new sense of yourself as artist-of-becoming

  • Experiential Hand Lettering: Connect to aesthetic meaning by exploring letter character and composition

  • Museum Art-Based Engagement: Make aesthetic connections that respond to your artistic self and nourish your inner artist

  • Dynamic Shape Drawing (DSD): Center yourself by drawing rhythmic lines and shapes inspired by Lombard braid designs

  • Bilateral Body Mapping/Guided Drawing®: Release creative trauma and overcome stoppages of self-actualizing through bilateral expression

AFJ Practices © FOCUSZART

Go Spark Your Art. Create and Work Toward Becoming!