Weather and Creativity - February Blog Carnival

Once again, it is time for the monthly blog carnival from the Jewelry Artisans Community.  Our topic for February is how weather affects creativity.

My first thought was to focus on creativity and winter weather, but summer, spring and fall also have an influence so I decided to touch on all of the seasons.

For many people, winter is a depressing time of year.  The weather is cold, gray and blah.  Travel or just getting outside can be a challenge.  Boredom and cabin fever often sets in causing people to want to hibernate or at least nap a lot.

A winter view from my kitchen

For me personally, winter time is when I'm at my most creative.  I like winter weather, especially rain.  Even snow doesn't bother me too much if I don't have to go out in it.  Spending time at my jewelry work bench doesn't cause feelings of guilt that I should be outside enjoying beautiful weather and accomplishing yard work, gardening or whatever else it is that people do when the weather is nice.

Sun battles the fog on a winter day

 Nope, I can indulge myself in creating, designing and experimenting to my heart's content without that nagging feeling that I shouldn't be wasting a beautiful day by staying inside.

The opposite season from winter is summer.  That's when everyone wants to be outside going camping, to the lake, grilling, swimming and gardening - all that warm weather stuff.  To be honest, I find summer to be highly overrated.  It is hot, dusty and when all the insects (including the stinging variety) are active and on a mission to harass the humans.  No thanks.

I will happily stay indoors creating from June to September without a twinge of guilt.

Which brings me to spring and fall.  These are the best times of the year to be outside and the times when I find myself setting aside the jewelry projects in order to enjoy the fabulous weather we experience in California during these seasons.

A side benefit is that experiencing the outdoors at these times is a wonderful source of inspiration for future projects and jewelry designs.  During spring, the trees bud, the flowers bloom and the weather is sunny and mild with the occasional spring shower. 

A wild iris blooms in my yard

Beautiful California poppies bloom for a short time in spring and early summer

 The wildlife returns.  Babies are being born and making their debut.  It's a time of renewal and everything is fresh.  I keep these types of images in mind for when summer arrives and it's time to  start creating again.

The photo is a bit grainy, but my hands might have been shaking! 

Awwwwww!

The fall brings us astonishing color and textures along with crisp, clean air and the first hint of frost.  Wildlife is busy preparing for winter as are the humans.  It's a fantastic time to be out gathering inspiration for those long winter months when we're all stuck inside again.

Nothing says Autumn like pumpkins

To sum up, I can't say that the hot, sultry weather of summer or the gloomy, gray weather of winter affects my creativity in a negative way.  Rather, both times of year are looked forward to because it's such an intense time of creating as evidenced below. 

My work area on a creative day - I know where everything is!

To see what the other participants in this month's blog carnival have to say about weather and creativity, please click on the links below.

Bead Sophisticate