Labyrinth Project Creators Journal - Diana Whiley

Author: Diana Whiley
Adelaide, South Australia

04/16/19

By writing this journal I’m hoping to fully immerse myself in my writing again. To express the depth and intensity that I enjoy and appreciate in other writers. To regain my purpose and drive. 

I read a haiku poem recently called ‘Catalyst” by Anita Virgil.  Only three lines but very relevant to now, to this…writing a journal.

       Not seeing
       The room is white 
       Until that red apple 

 It is often easy to miss what is right in front of us. I am going to put a plan in motion to keep myself motivated as well as tap into my emotions.  Creating conflict in writing can, and is often too close to the bone. 

I intend to go back to my first love and read a poem every day and respond to it. See how the poem is relatable to my characters, the novel’s flow and plot line.   

Here is my response to the poem Catalyst:

        Black script curves
        Undulates in a river’s meandering ease 
        Until meaning slaps like a wave. 

Immediately after I’d written it, the word hidden sprang to mind. What had I forgotten that is hidden in my characters? What drives them?  


Each character is an individual. I will try to regenerate that feeling of discovery, of that first insight into who the character is and the journey they will take - the reason behind the journey in the first place. 

04/05/19

I started my writing life as a poet. Its brevity suited me. I loved searching for the right metaphor that I hoped, would convey the emotion I wanted to evoke. I think it was my form of journal writing. 

It came to a great halt when my brother, a songwriter, died of cancer in 2002. 
I couldn’t get past his absence for a long time. But eventually, with the help of music and a need to write something in his memory I resurfaced. 

The knack of writing poems seemed to have deserted me. Luckily I discovered Neil Gaiman and his Sandman series.  It hit a chord – his big themes of Universe and myths

The House at the End of the Universe - An Artists to Authors Short Story by Andrew Seas

Artists to Authors is an exploration of the how art influences authors. Artist Grey Cross has opened his entire portfolio to any author who would like to choose a piece of art and create a short story around it. You can find more information on the project at: 

The Artist to Author Project

Where am I? Am I dreaming? Am I still in the virtual world of cyberspace, the neural-net?

I sat up on the dry parched Earth surrounded by dead grass and gazed up. Above me, the entire cosmos revealed its mystery, twinkling its secrets to me, the anti-universe of something that is not quite nothing—me.

I’ve had these dreams before, I thought, as I reached down and took a pinch of the dirt and let its fine dust return to the Earth. Earth? This cannot be the Earth!

Behind a rooftop, the globe upon which the only home mankind has ever written history, was now starting to rise behind the remnants of a timber house. It continued to rise, surrounded by hues of deep blues and purple, and the sparkle of a billion stars.

It Never Dies

A colleague recently said "my creativity died for awhile, but I think its coming back to life". This stuck in my mind because so many people think they lose their creativity, sometimes considered their muse. 

But the reality is that creativity never dies. Its always inherent in each and every one of us. What dies is our desire to bring it forth within ourselves. 

I consider creativity to be a force all its own. We joke and say "the force is with us" without ever realizing that its true. This transcendent ability permeates us all. Many turn their backs on it. Some only use it in small limited ways. Others consider it their life goal to make it a part of themselves in every facet of their being.

The Work of Photographer Kyle Wiles (New Work Added)

"Tree Between Realities"

Elissa's Revenge - An Artist to Authors Short Story by Diana Whiley

Artists to Authors is an exploration of the how art influences authors. Artist Grey Cross has opened his entire portfolio to any author who would like to choose a piece of art and create a short story around it. You can find more information on the project at: 

The Artist to Author Project

     I dip the brush into black ink. Thin lines cut the whiteness of watercolour paper and it bleeds a little. The exotic scent of magnolia hits my senses. My heart races, my pupils dilate to completely cover my iris black.

 Someone’s past has been opened. Someone from my book - but who? 

  I have names and dates for their past transgressions but none ever follow a particular order. That frustrates and excites me. 

    Lavender and rosemary precedes footsteps and Lily, fellow artist walks in. She drops an envelope onto the side table. “The invitation has arrived.”

    “Good,” but I do not turn.

   

Artists. 

Take joy in the process, not just the finished work

Labyrinth Project Creators Journal - Marko Alabaster

Artist Marko Alabaster 
Nantwich, Cheshire, United Kingdom
Visual Artist



Journal Entry 04-06-19


Today I'm happy, but I don't think anyone would be able to tell. It's hidden under the surface and clouded with anxiety. I'm not used to the combination, it's satisfyingly odd, if that’s possible. Happy takes me up and anxiety brings me down, so it’s with that combination I simply focus on the task at hand. The completion of this blog post.

Life is an unwritten book. You get to be the creator of your own story, crafting it day by day, undertaking the pivotal role as star. As we all travel the pages it is our connections and experiences that make the tale worth telling. The highs and lows keep the reader enthralled, but most of life's joy are found in the hidden passages, in the detail’s, in the secrets and often expressed as lies. It is in the realization that emotions rule, and a strong mental defiance is supremacy. Surprising as it may sound, happiness and joy as such are not emotions easily stored in long term memories like the trials and troubles, it is these very feelings that fuel and dominate the core reactions. Emotions provide the chapters. The very thing that make us human. You can't have the good without the bad.But what would you be if you didn't feel hurt, happiness, or despair? The trick is to balance them, so the bad doesn't seem so terrible, and that you can truly appreciate the good. A constant inner turmoil isn’t necessarily a bad thing, its how you overcome these emotional aspects and the influence you allow them to exert upon one self. The thing about life is, it pushes you until you break just to see if you can put yourself back together. Its how you do this that provides the ending.

Making Your Bones - The Cult of Personality & The Artists Reputation

Making Your Bones is an old Mafioso term for making your reputation by killing someone.

Reputation is a tricky thing. No matter how much you try to steer your reputation in a particular direction, like a stubborn cow that doesn't want to return to the barn, it will probably wander off down a totally different path. 

New artists have the idea that reputation is built from what they create and where they show their work. While those things may play into an artists reputation its really just the tip of the iceberg. 

The Inescapable Truth of Art

No matter how much we would like our work to be adored by everyone, it is an inescapable reality of the art world that every piece you create will only be embraced by a few. In fact it will most likely be hated by an equal if not greater number of people.

Art is completely and totally subjective. But for those few who do love your art will be fans for life. They are the ones that are worth creating for.

I see many artists that spend their careers trying to find that magic formula for the perfect piece of art. They waste their potential trying out different things that might be a hit with the public rather than focusing that effort inwardly. Once an artist escapes from the delusion that they can be another Da Vinci, they can get down to business creating true masterpieces that come from deep within themselves.

Streetcar Dreams - An Artist to Authors Short Story by Diana Whiley

Artists to Authors is an exploration of the how art influences authors. Artist Grey Cross has opened his entire portfolio to any author who would like to choose a piece of art and create a short story around it. You can find more information on the project at: 

The Artist to Author Project

    I walked the streets of Sydney. Dogs barked and the scent of oil, garbage and food recently cooked hit me - a pleasure and pain - a curse of memory so strong that it felt real. Like the hint of gardenia and jasmine. Heady yet fading as soon as I inhaled it.

    I ran toward the last remnant of it and was joined by others criss-crossing my path.  They reached out to me, the maker of stories.   

    I passed them coming to the area known as the rocks where old houses stood in neat preservation. Standing after the protests of the seventies. The Harbor Bridge loomed to my right, gleaming in the half light. 

   

Tell us About Your Art - You Deserve to Make a Big Deal About Your Work!

A Special Invitation To All Artists and Creatives

Immortal Artist is an open forum for all artists and creatives. We want to give creatives a platform for their work, their ideas and their creative voice. This is not a conventional portfolio, but a more personal way to interact with people. We want to give you a chance to show your work and tell us about it. We want to know the inner mind of the artist and their creations.

There is no cost and no obligation. Anything you share can be removed at your request at any time. There is no requirement that any item must be for sale. You can show new or old work. You can share music, writing, short stories, art, sculpture, or anything else that is considered a creative product that derived from your mind. 

If you would like to be involved, or have an idea for something inovative to add to this website, let us know at: 

gcsartno@aol.com

Art Hiding in Plain Sight (UPDATED)

"Nightmares" is a prototype for a new series called "Words". Each piece will explore themes of our world using single words to project the main message of the piece. "Nightmares" uses articles taken from the New Orleans local newspaper regarding a murder/suicide had taken place about ten years ago. The boyfriend had murdered his girlfriend and dismembered her body, placing different body parts through the kitchen of the home. While cannibalism was never proven, some speculate that it may have occurred before the boyfriend killed himself. 

Labyrinth Project Creators Journal - Ryan Rosenberry

Artist Ryan Rosenberry
Fargo, North Dakota



3/30/2019

I'm scared, I’m struggling, I feel lost 

I am not only a writer. I write, but this is about more than my words. This journey is about embodying the concept that an artist is more than a painter or a sculptor or a writer or (enter your own niche here)

Being an artist what we do when we are alive. It’s a commitment to creativity, emotional labor and grit and love and the willingness to fail. It’s creating trust and connection. It’s forging into the unknown without a map willing to take a stand and be remarkable. Art is not something created by an artist - Artist are people who create art. (I stole that bit from Seth Godin)

The Work of Artist Marko Alabaster

Marko has an incredible grasp of color. There is something compelling about the scene and the color scheme used. There are some artists that just come by their talents naturally, while others take years of schooling to achieve the same. Marko is definitely one of those that comes by it naturally. 

~Grey~

The Pleasures of an Outdoor Art Studio

When I began to convert my double wide alleyway into an art space, it had not occurred to me how much I would enjoy working outside, both day and night. I love my indoor studio. Its the center of all I do, but now, just a few steps from that inner artistic sanctum is this amazing outdoor space in which I can create. 

I'd always been envious of plein air artists who could pick up their easel and paint anywhere in the world. It always seemed a fantasy to be able to sit in front of a mountain and paint it, or on the beach at sunset. But no matter where the location, just the sheer joy of being outside, feeling the breeze, enjoying the sunshine in the daytime does so much for the creative process. 

But I think its the nights that I love the best. When I light up the space and it pushes back the darkness, there is an almost fairy tale quality to this small area. While I'm creating, time stops for a bit. 

We are fortunate here in New Orleans that nights are a wonderful time. Soon the temps will be too high to do much during the day, but I am at my best late at night. Here in this space I can go out and create anytime I wish without any constraints. And while I am only 5 minutes from the city center, here in this place it is quiet and there is little to intrude. New Orleans is known for its inner courtyards and gardens. In a time before air conditioning this was where people retreated from the heat of the day. While my space may not be as ornate or filled with plants and fountains, it is just as amazing to me.

So, if you've not taken your art outside, try it sometime. It does not take having a dedicated space. It doesn't matter if its a street corner or a neighborhood park. What matters is the freeing up of your creative process. You may be surprised what it does to shake you out of the comfort zone our studios can sometimes create for us.