What Is Creativity??

Recently, I got into some discussions about "What is Creativity." My first reaction was to think about people in the artistic fields - writers, musicians, artists, sculptors. What is the secret behind their "creativity"? Are they born with creative genes, is it their environment, or is it self generated. Good question. Maybe God said "you will be creative and you will not".

I will see an abstract painting and say to myself, I can do this. Looks like something a 4th grader did. Then I try. Wrong. It is the creative genesis of the artist who created it. Same way with a trying to write a short story, sculpt, etc.

Then the question is: is creativity limited to only the art fields? I don't believe it is. What about the entrepreneur who starts a company - isn't this Creativity? What about the executive that conceives an innovative marketing strategy for their company - Creativity? Or the doctor who comes up with a new operation procedure - Creativity? I feel everyone can be creative in their own way, IF they let themselves. IF they take off the mental blinders off.

I feel creativity must come from the gut. Feel a passion for something. DO IT. Unfortunately, many people tell themselves, I am not creative - I can't do this. Why not try? Who cares if people say this is stupid, you are wasting your time. I find creative people in all fields have thick skin. On the one hand, they often feel their efforts and works aren't good enough and they are not good enough. Then, with a passion, the next day they are up and running - creating a new painting, a new necklace, a new real estate development plan.

OK then, "What is Creativity?" It is the ability to open up one's mind totally, tell one's self  "let's have fun and come up with something new and I don't care what anyone thinks and says." Wake up in the middle of the night and say "YES" I can do this. Have the passion to never stop.

ENJOY LIFE. WE ARE ONLY HERE FOR A VISIT.

John Gabrielson

www.naturalcreations.me

Great New Books on Creativity

Hi,

I keep thinking about What is Creativity!! Am I creative or just doing dumb things? How do I get unstuck when I am trying to create something, whether it is one of my wood pieces or writing something? Am I unique or do others have the same issues on creativity? Once I make something, how do I let people know about it without being a braggart?


Well, I have found some answers to these questions. I found two excellent and fun books on creativity. Both by Austin Kleon, an off the wall writer and lecturer. I like pictures when I read, maybe my infant mentality is coming out, but that's fine. These books can be read quickly and I feel have a lot of meat for the writer, artist, jeweler, and anyone in or wanting to be in the creative fields.
Bought both on Amazon.

STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST

AND

SHOW YOUR WORK

ENJOY

HAVE A GREAT DAY AND MAKE IT BETTER BY CREATING SOMETHING

or

HELPNG SOMEONE ELSE CREATE SOMETHING

John Gabrielson

Natural Creations

New Things from Gabby and Natural Creations

In looking at my past blogs, I am embarrassed at how long it has been since I spent some time to write a new blog. Either I have been sick, feeling good; or I have done too much golf and fishing, unfortunately not enough; or I have been real lazy - BINGO. I have tried to keep involved with creating new stuff, along with my old wood creations. I still love the old, but I have a tendency to get bored and need to try new things. Well, here are some of my new "adventures."

I had some excess pieces of cypress and black walnut. Rather than throwing them away, I said let's try frames. How to do this - bring up uTube tutorials and get advice from my carpenter son Eric. He made me a frame gig and here is what came out of it. 

Cypress and reclaimed frames

Black walnut frame for Mark's water color

Pecky cypress frame for Gary's oil painting

Cypress and black walnut frames.

Cypress frame for Mark's rooster water color. Against a pecky cypress kitchen backsplash

Now that I had a garage full of frames, that fortunately got sold off, what could we conjure up next? Summer of 2014 when in MN, I was doing crafts with my granddaughter Sophia and grandson Nick. Sia has a rock tumbler and Nick suggested we tumble broken glass and make something. Well, we started breaking heavy glass obtained from friends and rummage sales and putting them in the rock tumbler. The result was a surprise. The broken edges were smooth and could definitely be made into something. Then I left for Florida and the kids to school. I showed this glass to my creative Destin buddy Mark. We bought a large rock tumbler and started tumbling broken liquor bottle glass for longer periods. BINGO again. They turned into replicas of etched sea glass. Now we have a bunch of Miramar faux sea glass. What to do? Let's go into the jewelry business. Bring up uTube again. Then I had my good artist friend Velda paint Chinese life symbols on the sea glass. I made the silver connections and bought some chain from China. BINGO - Sea Glass necklaces. 

Mark and Gabby with "high production" rock tumbler

New batch of Miramar Sea Glass

Sea glass necklaces made for a friend's family with FRIENDSHIP symbol

Various necklace colors with Chinese life symbols and silver chain

Painted sea glass ready for silver chains

Miramar sea glass, hand made silver connector, symbol of LOVE.

OK, now with a garage full of frames and sea glass, there is still room for something else before getting back into the wood creations. The doc said I needed a hip replacement before lifting more cypress. I know - big woosy. So, back to a little jewelry making. Silk ribbon is not too heavy to lift. A friend showed me some dyed silk ribbon she bought in Maui for necklaces. I love the colors and casualness of using them as a necklace cord or bracelet wrap. So, I picked up some silver beads, went onto uTube again, and the result is dyed silk ribbon wrap bracelets with silver beads. What a fun thing and the ribbons come in many colors. Can even use thinner Christmas wrapping ribbon - you know the stuff sitting in that box in the attic from previous Christmases that never got used.

Different color hand dyed silk ribbons

Silk ribbon necklace with sea glass pendant

Leather wrap bracelet

Multi colored silk ribbon wrap bracelet with silver beads

Multi color silk ribbon wrap bracelet with silver beads.

OK, I did do a little cypress work, making some tables and these lazy susans. 

Me and a couple of 16" lazy susans

Pecky cypress lazy susans - 14" diameter with turntable.

So, as you can see, I have somehow kept busy creating stuff. I have found it to be very interesting - once a person starts being creative with the blinders off, real new possibilities seem to pop up. Not all are realistic or sane,but the creative juices are flowing. Just around the corner might be a new idea and adventure. Go for it.

Have fun creating. Never say NO it can't be done. If Edison believed this, we would still be using candles.

"When I meet a dreamer with calluses, I try to sit up and listen."

John "Gabby" Gabrielson

johngabrielson5@gmail.com

Natural Creations.

www.naturalcreations.me

612-816-5378

Sinker Cypress: Nature's Underwater Treasure

I have been asked by many people: "what is sinker cypress." Well, let me take a moment and explain all about sinker cypress and the process of turning it into beautiful wood for the home and business.
Sinker cypress, sometimes called deadhead cypress, is exactly what the word says - it is cypress logs that have sunk in rivers and bayous. During the mid to late 1800s, much of northern Florida was covered with cypress forests growing in swamps and bayous. Due to the growth of the country, there was a great demand for cypress for building. Enter the lumber barons. Much of this old growth cypress was harvested and shipped to saw mills for processing into lumber. The best way to transport the logs to the mill was by water - creeks and rivers. The logs were rafted together for efficient floating. Along the way to the mill, some logs became waterlogged and sank to the bottom. Where they have remained until the past 30 years, when the law changed and limited permits were issued to reclaim the logs.

Transporting the cypress logs to the mill - 1800s. Things certainly have changed.

The reclaiming of the sunken logs from the rivers created a niche business for those enterprising individuals daring to take the risks to recover the logs. In addition to having zero visibility, these men could encounter many types of "critters" while submerged. Not like diving in the Caribbean. 

Once the logs were discovered and brought to the surface, they were floated to local saw mills specializing in converting sinker cypress to useable lumber. The logs were sold to the mills and the process of conversion began. Bruner Lumber Company in northern Florida is a saw mill specializing in old growth cypress and pine.

Cypress logs at the river haul out. Doubles as an alligator walkway up to solid ground.

Cypress logs recently reclaimed from the river. Notice the end cut. It was done by hand with axes, prior to power saws. These lumbermen were tough men. And they had no Deep Woods Off for the swamps.

Cypress logs stacked for drying, prior to milling. No this isn't one of the lumbermen, it's my friend Mark "Gator" Nesbit. He is tough however.

Bruner Lumber Company. This excellent northern Florida saw mill specializes in creating beautiful, old growth cypress and pine lumber products for homes throughout the country. 

Once the logs have been through a partial drying process, they are milled into beautiful cypress flooring, paneling, beams, and large table tops. 

Cypress flooring and beams ready for the market.

Saw mill yard with logs ready for milling. Gets a little muddy after a good rain. No place for Gucci loafers.

Then where do I come in? Well, I buy rough unusable cypress pieces from my friends at Bruner. I try and visualize how a particular wood chunk can be transformed into a beautiful usable item for the home or business. Once at my workshop, the sizing, sawing, sanding and finishing takes place. This is the fun part of the process. Creating something that will enhance someones home.

Rough pieces of sinker cypress from the mill. I think I need to get a bigger car or a trailer.

Then after a few (a lot) of hours, this is the result. Magic, when you have beautiful wood to start with. These pieces are all sinker cypress from large reclaimed logs. Most of the logs are over 300 years old.

Have a great day and a Happy and Healthy 2014

Natural Creations

John "Gabby" Gabrielson

johngabrielson5@gmail.com

Miramar Beach, Florida

Recycling Crafts with Grand Kids

I love doing craft projects with my five grandchildren. It is creative, fun, and gives me a chance to spend quality time with each of them. I find it amazing what creativity they come up with if one just gives them a raw piece of wood, metal, a rock, and simply ask the question "now what would you do with this"?  You know, we adults could learn a lot from this process.
I try and use recycled items as the raw product. This summer we used old silver plated spoons, left over pine from a saw mill, blocks of cedar from Eric's remodeling, tree branches, rocks, scrap cypress from Florida. Why buy new things, when with a little creativity and an open mind, wonders can be invented from existing "stuff."And the best thing - you are working with your loving grandchildren on a pretty equal basis. Here is our Minnesota summer creativity with Eric and Jenn's three kids: Nick, Sophia and Noah.

Last spring while in Atlanta for an Antique Market, I showed my granddaughter Bianca a photo of a pile of old spoons for sale in an antique fair. She said, Ompa (that's me) why don't you make me a spoon ring. Now, what is a spoon ring? You can't turn down your kids, so I said OK. Went onto YouTube and learned how to make spoon rings and here are the results. Made some for B and Sophia in Florida. Then Sophia and I made these 8 rings in MN for the granddaughters on The Sween Floater Houseboat Trip.

 Pile of flatware for sale at Scott's Antique Market

Finished spoon rings

Nick then came up with an idea for taking a block of cedar and drilling holes in each side, going all the way thru. Who knows what the end use would be at first, but we went ahead with a scrap block, drilled the holes and finished it. Nick came up with the idea to string small battery powered holiday lights through the holes and hang it from the ceiling. We call it the Disco Cube. Great idea. Then Sophia wanted one so we made one together and painted it to match her room colors. We added a frame for her recent painting. I can't wait to see the installed lights, hanging from the ceiling.

Nick and his Disco Cube

Sophia operating the drill press.

Sophia with the finished Disco Cube and a frame.

Then Noah, who takes after his Dad in building, made "Noah's Wood Town" out of scrap pieces from Eric's woodworking. It is amazing the creativity that comes from using imagination and a lot of glue.

Then, what is a fun way to display photos, art work, and jewelry? Well, how about a "photo board." Off to a local saw mill we went and bought some larger pine slabs with live edges. They looked terrible to begin with, but with a little elbow grease by all of us, and some clips from Office Depot, they turned out great. All three kids got involved with making their own board. Noah's photo never made it, but he did make one.

Nick's Board - needs more photos.

Sophia's Board - also needs more stuff.

Now here is our future weapons inventor. Nick took some scrap wood, tree branches, tape and rubber bands to make this cross bow with a tree branch arrow. It really worked.

Watch our, here comes Ninja Nick.

I brought up a frame making jig and some pecky cypress scrapes from my Florida workshop. For Sophia's frame, we found some old white oak at the local saw mill. Her frame is shown above.
The below frame was made as an experiment. I showed it to an artist friend, Gary Thorp, who liked it and said he might have a painting to match the size. The result: a great art piece.

I find it amazing when one opens up their mind, take off the blinders, eliminate the "can't do's', what creativity can result. Especially when using recycled and reclaimed materials. When you combine this with child enthusiasm, wonders and love result.

John "Gabby" Gabrielson

Natural Creations

Miramar Beach, Florida

612-816-5378

"Being creative is not a hobby, it is a way of life."

"Around each corner lies a new adventure."

How About Sculptures from Reclaimed Treasures

What I really have fun doing is to try and create unique sculptures from reclaimed wood. To me this is an interesting challenge, looking at a piece of cypress that has been eaten away hundreds of years ago by fungus and trying to figure out what it could look like finished. I now have an appreciation for what sculptors go through in their creation process. No, I am not a sculptor, but it is fun going through the process. All of my work shown here is deadhead cypress which I obtained from my friends at Bruner Lumber.

This is the end of a pecky cypress log, sliced to 2 inches and very rough.

And here is the finished sculpture, with a metal base from my friend Mack.

These were quite the visual challenge.

The left one was turned into a lazy susan.

The right one made into a large appetizer platter. Sure these are not sculptures, but then the brain went this way instead.

Back to cypress sculptures:

This cypress piece I found half buried. After the first power wash, it was ready for sanding.

And here is the final 60" sculpture with a metal base.

Pecky cypress round sculpture #1

Pecky cypress round sculpture #2

Pecky cypress round sculpture #3

Pecky cypress round sculpture #4

40" rectangular pecky cypress sculpture #5

And here they are, all dressed and ready for the ball.

When I started doing sculptures, I found that I needed to have an artistic metal person to work with for my bases and other metal needs. Luckily I found Mack Corley who runs Mack Metal Art in Panama City. He did the above bases, a real boring and simple job for an artist like Mack, who does great metal art work for houses - gates, railings, wall mounts, table bases, etc.
Here is my friend Mack with an idea for a plant bracket and table bases in his truck.

And finally, here is the latest cypress sculpture from the end piece of a pecky log. This one is 4" thick and I refer to is as the "boss hog." I reclaimed this from the bottom of a stack of lumber, being used as a spacer.

Well, that's it for now. Hope you enjoyed another tour of Mother Nature's reclaimed treasures. Here's an idea: if you have an old favorite tree that has passed away and would like to keep some of it as a memory, why not have your local tree man cut some to make a table top, stump table, stool, or a sculpture. Then it can live forever.

Remember: "Around each corner lies a new adventure."

John "Gabby" Gabrielson
Natural Creations
Miramar Beach, Florida
johngabrielson5@gmail.com