darren r hill

the creative minimalist

Tag: field notes

Creating amongst the Chaos – Creative Field Notes

How have I felt this month?

This month has been good. I have been creative, and I have been getting quite a few things done and moved forward. This month has also been another month of unbelievable events in the wider world. I want to think there is some plan behind it all, but I can only see chaos. This has affected my creativity, although it hasn’t deterred it. I have channelled the “energy” into my creative practice. My work hasn’t become all political, but I have managed to use the energy positively instead of letting it numb me into inactivity.

What have I created this week?

Sculpting Sound

I finished FAWM. I wrote 14 songs in 28 days to complete February Album Writing Month. These songs aren’t going to win me any Brit awards or Ivor Novello trophies, but they did enable me to have a pretty much daily music creative practice through the month. This will continue and also expand.

I will be focusing on my Wheel of the Year project.

Weaving words

I am opening DayOne, Ulysses, and Scrivener more regularly. I am also reviewing my creative writing practice and getting out and about to write more in my Moleskine.

Multimedia

Getting distracted and falling down digital rabbit holes is an issue I face when creating multimedia. There are so many excellent tutorials that I can spend all my time watching them and taking notes. However, we all know that if you want to learn, you need to do. We only learn by doing. So, I will be curtailing my time watching and spending time doing.

I am exploring how I can use focus modes more during my day. However, the biggest distraction is from my own brain box. Picking up the phone or opening a browser to do something legitimate for my next action can all too easily become a wander down

25 in 25 highlights and lowlights

I have noticed that I am not getting out enough. As spring has officially sprung and with the time zone changing at the end of March, I want to make sure I get out more. Part of the reason for this is to help with the distractions mentioned above. I want to spend more time doing creative prep work outside. The more I can prepare in a journal or notebook, the less I will be distracted or in that “what’s next” phase when I sit with the app open.

In conclusion

Regular habits and creative practices help me in achieving goals and completing projects. My challenge is to keep this up but not let these rituals and habits become negative must dos. I never want them to become, oh no, not that again. In the past, this has happened, and my plans have cascaded like a house of cards.

It is time for my Odyssey to become more intentional as I step into March.

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

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2 March 2025
New Year Creative Field Notes

Four days into the New Year here is my Creative Field Notes report. Back to work and back into the swing of things. I didn’t set any specific resolutions apart from being creative. And therefore, so far, I have broken any.

Music

I’m still working on the lyrics of fragments. There are only a few lines left and then the first draft will be ready. Like all poetry and art from the heart, it takes a lot of creative energy and can be quite draining. Well, that’s my excuse for it taking a while.

Creative Writing

Am I writing? Well, I did open up Scrivener, my fiction software of choice, and wrote about 500 words of fiction. I had an idea for an opening line and I went from there. It was good to do some creative writing even if just a few words. The challenge is to find inspiration and motivation to keep going.

pLAnarchy and planning

I seem to have set up a Bullet Journal to replace my diaries from last year. I’m still using Things 3 but the BuJo is my paper planner.

The pLAnarchy shop is a low priority until I sort my own planning out. Once I know how I am planning and what I need to plan, then I can share and create tools for that.

waoao

I have a few freelance bits either in progress or in the pipeline, but not much… if anyone would like some words or other creative media sorted, then drop me a line.

That’s the current state of play and report from the creative field.

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

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4 January 2023
Imaginary figments Friday field notes

fig 1

An update, or excerpt, on what I have been creating and doing. Keeping myself accountable, even though I have forgotten to update here for a few weeks. Inspired by my imagination, here are some…

Figments

I am composing ‘emerge’. I think this will form part of a collection, the working title of which is currently ‘music to journal by’ – fig 1 is a screenshot of my work in progress. I’ll do a video update on the progress soon.

I am writing again. I have set myself a monthly word count goal. I had a nagging feeling in my soul that I wanted to write. I have plenty of ideas but wasn’t getting around to writing any. So, I set myself a goal, a little more accountability.

The music grimoire my songwriting journal hasn’t seen much action, but I have been working on a collection of songs. I’ll be back in the songwriting journal over the weekend.

I am reading Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. Really enjoying the oral ‘storytelling’ vibe. I always know when I am enjoying a book because I write quotes:

He had done as his dreams had told him, but dreams know more than they reveal, even to the wisest of the gods
Norse mythology by Neil Gaiman

I have been watching Brand New Cherry Flavor on Netflix. It was good, but I didn’t think it was great. There were some really nice ‘horror’ video effects. I quite liked those.

I am thankful for all of you who read and encourage me on my creative path, and as such, I’d best get going and finish a few things.

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

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27 August 2021
Creative Field Notes 18th — 23rd July 2021

My week has been very creative, although it feels like I haven’t achieved much. I suppose that’s down to not having completed things. These creative field notes are very much concerning works in progress. But that is the idea behind posting this each week.

fig 1

Songs and Music

I’m still working on the tracks that, I hope, will become a new album in the near future. I have a working list of ten tracks in various stages of (de)composition.

There’s also a soundtrack being composed inspired by the word emerge… it’s all butterflies and stuff… what do butterflies sound like, and what is the sound of them emerging from their cocoon? I’m doing a video series about that process, and the first video in the playlist is here.

Art and images

Did an ink splat to tie in with this week’s creative prompt. That’s fig 1 at the top of the page.

Journals and planners

fig 2

Did a little page for my art/thoughts/meme journal, I don’t have a real name for this journal. It is a part image, part word journal, and I am using my Iconic journal.

Words and stories

When it comes to text, blog posts and marketing have been in the work/freelance pile this week. I’d love to spend more time writing fiction… but my desire is obviously not enough at the moment to actually do anything about it.

Inspiration

Currently reading:

The Saints of Salvation by Peter F Hamilton. This is the final book in his recent Salvation Sequence Trilogy. I am thoroughly enjoying these. And my favourite line this week, which also gives a glimpse at what the content is…

We just don’t have the psychology to deal with Armageddon
The Saints of Salvation Peter F Hamilton

Currently listening:

The Moon is blue by Future Islands

From Bills & Aches & Blues (40 years of 4AD). This is a compilation album celebrating 40 years of 4AD. And that makes me feel even older, seeing as I have a few very early 4AD recordings on original vinyl. I love Future Islands and I love Colourbox, who originally recorded The moon is blue. And this is a pretty good cover version.

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

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23 July 2021
Creative accidents Friday Field Notes

fig 1 brilliantly big hope – art journal page

Time for a Friday Field Note report from The Creative Minimalist. It seems I have found some creative inspiration. By some, I mean quite a lot. At times, it has felt like one idea has led to another and then another. I am quite certain that creativity breeds creativity. As I began to note what has been happening this past week or so, I realised that my creative cup was very much overflowing.

But there have been consequences. I don’t want you to think that the week’s creative adventure has been painless.

Injuries

fig 2 coffee injury

Coffee is an essential part of my creative process. However, carrying my French press and cup to the creative studio led to a nasty blister on my little finger. I didn’t realise the cup was so hot until my knuckle began to swell. If you are of a nervous disposition, you might not want to look at the picture on the left… I suppose I should have said this above the picture… sorry.

Songs and music

Seeing my little keyboard in the picture above leads me to report on my music progress. I have four songs that are coming together nicely. The lyrics are almost finished. The latest song is a reworking of a tune from many, many years back (yes, when I had hair). I have been pencilling in and then inking in the lyrics as they begin to work. I will work out how to share some audio snippets for future field note reports, but meanwhile, fig 3 shows you how I work on lyrics in my Music Grimoire journal.

fig 3 your touch lyrics from the music grimoire

ATCs and art journal pages

fig 4 ATCs

fig 1 at the top of this field note report shows a journal page that I created. I am not a painter or fine art artist, I do enjoy playing with mixed media and creating abstract shapes. Recently, I have been inspired by Dianne Fago’s ATCs. So, I pulled out the inks and some good watercolour paper and had a play. So far, the results are interesting, but the main reason for doing them is to learn and have fun. It is so easy for me to forget to play. fig 4 shows a selection of the ATCs I have been working on.

But there have been accidents along the way. In addition to my coffee injury, I had an ink spill. It could have been a lot worse. I am so grateful that it didn’t fall onto any of my electrical equipment.

fig 5 the desktop ink spill

Dianne and Darren Discuss

To finish off, here’s a link to our latest discussion video. In it, we talk about creativity and the process, and you’ll see that we’ve both been quite creative in recent weeks.

https://youtu.be/4QKj_B7HUUQ

I’ll be back with another Friday field note report soon, until then, may you find inspiration and may your creations bring you and others joy.

Thank you for reading this post. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.
namaste
d
xox

If you enjoyed this post please support my writing by making a donation of any amount.

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9 July 2021