Artist J.P. Griffin
In My Youth Around 10,000 Moons or So Ago...
I would visualize the characters from my adventures as if they were just as real as the trees and rocks around me. All too quickly though, as it does for most of us, age dictated that attention was required elsewhere. And soon enough, I didn’t visit my realms at all anymore. The characters I had spent my extraordinary adventures with faded from memory and my connections to the realms of my imagination were seemingly lost. At some point, I had even forgotten what I had forgotten. My imagination, however, had not forgotten me. Nor, had the realms my imagination had created…
Creativity Is a Difficult Thing to Ignore…
I grew up, and although the path was rocky, eventually I found a level of stability that I was comfortable with, even if it was a bit boring and repetitive. Even then, after all the years of being ignored, my creativity was not forgotten. I started to create many things as gifts for birthdays and holidays. This creative trend grew to larger and larger proportions. The creations got more elaborate so I continued to gather more and more skills in order to keep up with the vision for each new project. At some point, I was approached by friends of friends to create new projects. They were even asking about pricing! I had the makings of actually starting a creative business. It was exactly what I realized I had wanted for a while and I was very excited. And then… I got injured.
My Way Back From the Unknown…
The injury turned out to be a much bigger deal than it seemed at first and turned into a course-altering event affecting every aspect of my life. Derailed from any plans and far from the stability I had once known, I was forced to reconsider most everything about my livelihood. A lot of time passed without much progress towards a goal of any kind as I was mostly focused on figuring out my new path.
Days turned to weeks, weeks to months, months to years, and finally, although slow, progress started again. Eventually, I was able to return to the level of functionality needed to start making progress toward my goals. Exciting to be sure, but what goals? The creative life course dream from all those years ago? The stability which turned out to be not so stable? The daydreams I had about the future during my time considering new paths? And then I had a huge visualization moment.
The Return of the Realms…
I could see my whole life from childhood to old age and all I had to do was… and it was gone. Big visualizations are unreliable like that. I have a theory it has to do with the sheer number of variables to consider. I think it short circuits them. But, I had seen enough to form a direction and some clear goals to move towards. Something else was added though, and it was the idea of something bigger than me, like a familiar memory, but larger than any single memory. And then it all came back to me. I used to imagine realms! And as I thought about it, the realms started to expand exponentially and what had once just been inspirations for a few art projects was quickly becoming much more. Stories, cities, continents, and worlds big and small; my full creativity had been restored and upgraded. It was definitely a nice side effect of a visualization that short-circuited.
And So the Story Begins…
This brings us to the present. I have been lucky enough to rediscover my creativity again as an adult. I have honed my creative abilities enough to be able to create on a level that gives small glimpses into the realms created by my imagination. I have also been fortunate enough to find a lot of major support both from family and friends and most recently the community! I am very much so looking forward to making as many projects as I am able, and I sincerely hope you look forward to seeing my future creations as much as I do. In the meantime, thank you for reading my story.
One of our unique pieces can be all yours,
or a friend’s if you’re willing to part with it.
Swirly Tree Creations
641-631-6465
swirlytreecreations@gmail.com
