Nita Leland quotes:

Gather knowledge... Visit galleries, museums, art and craft fairs... Read books and magazines. Take workshops. Use your senses. Experience stimulates your memory and imagination.

Your hopes and dreams, as well as your perception of the world around you, come through in your work and make it unique.

When you finish for the day, write a note reminding yourself of what you plan to do next. This helps you to remember today's great idea when you get back to work tomorrow.

Let yourself daydream sometimes... Allow spontaneous images to come and go. Capture one in a sketch. These images express connections with your inner self.

Unleash your creative energy and let it flow. Relish the possibilities.

Creativity doesn't just happen - you make it happen. Changing daily routines is one way to access creativity.

Creative expression is not just a means of getting attention, although some have approached art that way. Think of art as a way of connecting, of sharing your insights with others.

Pay attention to the inner voice that tells you when something feels right. Much of your creative problem-solving occurs at an unconscious level.

Collage is like a hall of mirrors. Every direction you look, you see something different and visually stimulating.

Creativity isn't magic. It's achievable.

Creativity needs to be exercised to grow strong.

Every human being has creative powers. You were born to create. Appreciate your inborn potential.

Release and regulate the flow of your inborn creative energy to reach your artistic potential.

Smash creative blocks. Change the problem or sneak up on it from a different direction. Try something fresh - a new way with an old theme, a different point of view, unusual tool.

Take imagination breaks... Relaxed attention is one of the most important states of mind for creativity, and sometimes it has to be learned.

To tap into that natural creative spirit, recapture your childlike enthusiasm for everything around you. Work with the reckless delight of a child.

Use design as a framework to bring order out of chaos.

Whatever direction your life takes, your underlying themes remain. Discover and explore your themes to open the way for rich creative development.

You owe it to yourself to make your creative development a top priority.

Allow some warm-up time each day to stimulate your creative flow. A pianist does keyboard exercises. A gymnast stretches. An artist needs to loosen up, too. It takes a few minutes to shift from the real world into a creative mode.

Choose to give your creative art priority over other things. You can do it.

Color is one way the eye and the brain work together to define the external world. However, not all cultures see color in the same way, nor do they give it as much importance as in western culture.

Don't dwell on your mistakes. Set achievable goals: a confident line, effective use of values, interesting shapes, exciting texture.

Establish an atmosphere that energizes you. Some creative people flourish in confusion; others need to be free from interruption. Many prepare themselves for work by exercising to stimulate circulation; others meditate to quiet the chatter of the outer world.

Get in touch with yourself. The fountain of creativity begins with the stream of conscious thought flowing inside you. Open the floodgate and creative ideas come rushing out.

If you persist in ignoring your intuition, you may find yourself stuck in a permanent holding pattern instead of taking the risks that lead to creative growth.

Positive attitude accelerates your development as a creative person. Believe in yourself.

Listening to music as preparation or background for your work brings you into a creative mood... choose one type of music to calm down, another to reach a higher energy level, depending on the artwork you are doing.