Creating From the Inside Out: Art and Creativity through Imagination

The lessons in this inspirational book are part of our educational techniques to help children, adults, and families discover peace, joy, and inner fulfillment. Just about everything you see first began with a creative process. Music was also inspired by a mysterious creative intellect, and the chair you’re sitting on was once just a thought.

When you consider our ancient ancestors and how they came to understand that friction could manifest fire or rocks and stones could be made into tools, we are reminded of the creative process. When people are in creative flow, they are so absorbed in what they are doing that they basically lose consciousness of themselves.

Flow is an exceptionally wonderful experience because it allows a state of flow while creating art of any kind. On the other hand, some people are dispassionate about art as it seems to be an unusual use of time because it doesn’t really seem to serve as a basic survival need. What purpose could be gained by doing art at all?

We have the capability of manifesting just about anything through a subconscious creative well or our inner source that still baffles science to this day. Some people I’ve worked with are actually fearful of doing anything out of the norm, or drawing outside of the lines due to fear of criticism or being ridiculed. Allow yourself to play and explore as a child, then fear will disappear.

Just imagine, with your eyes opened or closed, a purple elephant with pink stripes is standing in front of you. Most can instantly visualize this unusual animal, but still question how it manifests in the mind’s eye. When the imagination is allowed to express without boundaries, it reflects itself into wonderful and numerous ways without being told how.

An example of creative visualization is the box exercise.

Close your eyes, and visualize yourself inside of a box with a lid. The box can be anything as you see it in your mind’s eye. So, when you’re ready, get out of the box any way you can! This exercise will indicate your personal limitations, boundaries, or just the opposite by not seeing a box at all.

I have been a professional art teacher, artist, illustrator, and author since 1990. I’ve been teaching this method of artful creativity to the reluctant few, who claimed they couldn’t draw a stick figure. But they ended up surprising themselves by drawing and painting beautiful pieces of art.

This book offers creative exercises for the part of us that wants to explore outside the box.