How well do you know your own creative voice? How does it manifest through different talents or media? One of the many cool things about being a DaVinci — a multi-talented person — is that often, we have a distinctive way of expressing ourselves, regardless of what we’re doing.
Copper vessel by Liisa Kyle. (c) Liisa Kyle. Photo by Michael Dale Bernard
I made this hand-hammered copper vase in an art class. As soon as she saw it, a fellow student exclaimed, “Oh! Now I remember you. I was in your ceramics class a few years ago.” She didn’t recognize or remember me as a person…but she could identify me from the things I made. Apparently, the same voice came through in different media — in this case, clay and copper.
Ceramic vessel by Liisa Kyle. (c) Liisa Kyle.
It doesn’t seem to matter what I make, it looks like I made it. Here’s a recent necklace I concocted:
Necklace by Liisa Kyle. (c) Liisa Kyle.
Here’s what happens when I turn to textiles:
Tapestry by Liisa Kyle. (c) Liisa Kyle
Or make something in glass:
Fused glass panel by Liisa Kyle. (c) Liisa Kyle.
It might not surprise you, then, that when I started learning how to weld, this is very first thing I made:
Forged, welded steel box by Liisa Kyle. (c) Liisa Kyle.
What about you? How does your unique creative voice manifest?
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Activity: How do other people describe your work? What words do they use?
Activity: Pull out some projects you’ve made. It doesn’t matter if they are screenplays or business deals or songs or anything else. What patterns do you notice? What commonalities?
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Once you have a sense of your unique creative voice, it’s really fun to play in new media. For one thing, you never know what will unfold — it’s intrinsically interesting and inspiring. For another, you get to learn new skills and techniques. This allows you to expand your creative repertoire — and is also likely to give you new ideas and tools to apply to the media you’ve already been using. For example, when I was unhappy with the bland, symmetrical shape of the copper vessel I was making, I created more pleasing shapes and adornments — much more reminiscent of my pottery.
At the same time, you can bring your existing skills and tools to the newer format. For example, when I started fusing glass, it was natural to incorporate metal elements into the new pieces using the tools and techniques I already had.
Whatever your talents, I encourage you to explore your unique, creative voice in new situations and/or media. It’s fun. It’s inspiring. It will enhance and expand your existing skills. It will generate fresh ideas. It can help you overcome creative blocks. It will help you be more creative. Try it and see.
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Activity: Try something new. It might be a new talent or applying your existing skills to new media. See what happens.
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Are you struggling with too many talents, skills, ideas? You may have The DaVinci Dilemma™! Find tools, fun quizzes, coaching, inspiration and solutions for multi-talented people at http://www.davincidilemma.com/ .
