Free Your Artist - Archive

Senses/Taste — July 2001

For the fun links associated with this exercise, please e-mail me.

Quote | Visualization | Affirmation

Free Your Artist

Life itself is the proper binge.

—Julia Child

Creativity Exercise

There are many creative exercises that deal with food—the old acting technique of BEING a fruit...the meditation guidance which proves the power of imagination by leading you to your refrigerator and having you bite into a lemon...even "in-the-sack" game questions such as if you could only eat one type of food for the rest of your life, what would it be? There is sculpture of food as well as food sculpture, and painting....and fights.

If you are a cook, you know how sensual and rewarding the creativity can be. The rest of us that express ourselves in a different medium often are one step distant from the actual use and taste of food.

This month concentrate on taste. How the air in different places "tastes." How about a movie theater? An air-conditioned high-rise office building? Your bedroom? How can knowing this enrich your next piece of work?

Exercise 1: First, put small saucer of 3 foods before you—popcorn, ketchup, toffee... for example. Close your eyes and eat a bit. Savor. When the palette is ready (maybe include some lime sherbet!) try the next. What are the differences? The commonalties? Use this in your next work.

OR

All the people in my world of Celta have names based on plants (I have twelve pages of notes regarding the naming system). For my secondary characters, I try and choose a plant name/herb that might describe their character.

Exercise 2: Think about spices. What is the essence of saffron, nutmeg, rosemary, cocoa? What describes them, what form, texture, temperament are they? Who would they be if they were alive? Explore this in your chosen creative medium.

OR

Have a food fight. Or BINGE!

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Affirmation

I taste the sweetness of life—and the saltiness, and I incorporate both in my life to make me a more creative person. I use every experience life gives me to develop myself and my craft.

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