My Creative Process, by Stacy Harshman
I’m very kinetic when I create, whether it be writing, painting or making music. When I get inspired, I feel the creative, kinetic idea and energy inside my body. It is a tangible feeling. When I have this feeling, I know I’m going to create something that speaks to me. I might not even know what it is, but I follow that feeling and work until the art on the outside matches/satisfies the feeling I have on the inside.
For example, I’m very inspired by color. I create paintings on glass with dried pressed flowers, special glass paints, and encaustic wax. I can become completely inspired by the colors in a flower and then I create a palette of paints and waxes around it. Once I have everything ready, I let loose and play. The way I paint is very fluid and playful. I actually pour the paint onto the glass and let it move around and morph into different shapes and blend with other colors. Then, I add flowers and wax and keep building form there. I know when a painting is done. I can feel it. I can also feel when I’ve over-painted it! There’s a fine line!
It makes me happy to create. I feel like it completes something inside of me. When I am anxious and feeling ungrounded, creative expression is what I need. I bring something into the world and then can share it with others. It’s a way of connecting with myself and the world.
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About Stacy:
Stacy Harshman recently relocated from NYC to Vermont where she currently works on a therapeutic farm. After a Midwestern childhood in a family of designers, antique dealers, and equestrians, Stacy traveled extensively before finding a home in New York City, which she still maintains.
Always driven toward creative expression, Stacy writes fiction, memoir and essays, and has written and recorded five albums of original music.
Her passion for color and pattern led to the launch of Andarina Designs, a custom lighting design company. Stacy is inspired by women all over the world, working in community partnerships to produce beautiful and sustainable work. Currently, her favored form of expression is mixed media painting-collages. She devotes her time to animals and to the healing arts.
Stacy invites readers to connect with her on her website, Facebook and Twitter.
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