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I’m an experienced digital art educator and I offer creative arts services for developing creative thinking. My services are for schools and companies as keynotes, workshops, mentoring and training.
I have extensive experience in the international educational sector. I’ve worked with several universities and studios from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Moldova, the US, the UK, and Romania. My experience is a blend of consultancy and management in higher education, training of teachers, course direction, lecturing and digital artwork.
I began teaching in 2012. I have worked with hundreds of students and developed dozens of international courses under departments of Digital Visual Arts, Animation and Game Design. I designed, managed and taught on subjects such as character animation, concept art, visual development.
Digital art implies a multitude of skills and activities such as storytelling, brainstorming, concept prototyping, technical workflows, effective time management, teamwork and above all, it’s a continuous practice of creative thinking and imagination.
My goal is to bring you practice on how to cultivate creative thinking accessible to everyone, not just through the standard education system, but through easy and custom methods.
My Services: Bringing Creativity into Everyday Life
I offer creative services such as: Keynotes, Workshops, Mentoring and Training for Schools and Companies, as Online or On-location delivery.
My services for individuals as 1:1 coaching can be found in this article, Creative Digital Art Coaching.
In creative arts, we have a golden rule: “Anything can become anything, as long as you can imagine it.” This is a very bold statement because it implies unlimitless expression of creativity and imagination.
Creativity and imagination are highly related, they work in tandem but they are not synonyms. Creativity is the act of creating something new and innovative, while imagination is a continuous state of generating mental pictures, new ideas, and thoughts.
Over the years I developed my own system in developing creative thinking and imagination. I helped hundreds of individuals in finding their own artistic voice as a personal art style, authenticity and above all building their self-confidence.
I also provide solutions in overcoming common challenges such as procrastination, and creative blocks. Because creative thinking needs a creative attitude.
Artist or non-artist, in everyday life, a creative mind is also an imaginative and relaxed mind. Creativity is a multifaceted skill which means a creation-based thinking, it involves problem-solving, constructive thinking, resilience, joyfulness, and quite a lot of patience in the creation process.
We are all creative beings, but for some reason, the majority of people get confused about this, thinking that only artists are the creative ones. Artists have dared to believe in creativity, that’s it. But the beauty of life is that we don’t need an art degree to call ourselves creative, we can easily shift into this state.
We Use Digital Tools
In today’s lifestyle we all use digital tools in everything we do, they represent our ways of communicating and connecting. We also use digital tools for shopping, news, education, entertainment, banking, and even home management.
But do you use digital tools to enhance your creative thinking? to engage in stimulating creative activities?
And, I’m not talking about any specific app as a mind tool, rather to how you use the resources you have to practice your creativity and imagination in everyday life.
I use a variety of software for 2D and 3D art and collaborative visual brainstorming and visual research tools. And my hardware is quite normal: a tablet, a phone and a laptop.
We all have access to the same tools and I challenge you to just use them differently!
Problem and Solution
Modern education in studying creative digital arts is quite expensive and it takes a few years just like any other education. In addition, a full time education is targeting only those who wish to pursue a full-time career in the field of creative industries.
Then there are so many people who have neglected their creative spirit. Due to life circumstances they had to give up on their dream of becoming artists, mainly for making a living first. Then family and career become priorities, and that dream has become a fantasy, not a reality.
As I mentioned above, my goal is to bring the knowledge of how to cultivate creative thinking and imagination to everyone, not just following the long path of a standard education system.
Creative people are not people without challenges; they have challenges and problems in their lives too. However, the difference is that they’ve learned to creatively and imaginatively solve their problems.
The reality is that 95% of people end up tired and frustrated in their daily lives, regardless of their profession. The average working person works for 40 years, with only 2 weeks vacation a year. That’s about 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime.
But, how many hours per year do we truly invest in developing and pursuing our creative spirit?
I believe that creativity is one with us. It’s the perspective we have about life and is reflected in our thinking, our routines, our habits, our creation – our way of being.
I strongly believe that how creative or imaginative we train ourselves to think and feel is reflected in what we call work-life balance. However, I prefer to call it harmony.
Creativity in a Classroom
Education managers need to promote activities for enhancing creativity without the label of a grade or, good vs. weak achievements. Each student should learn about creativity, imagination, focused creation, authenticity, and how to develop unique ideas.
Children and young adults are blind consumers of digital entertainment such as animated films, games and comic books, but they can’t imagine what it takes to be the artist behind those products. Having a glance of this knowledge will totally change the perception, from a consumer to a creator.
Creativity in a classroom makes students more engaged and confident. They take responsibility for learning, feel confident about mastering complex topics, and develop a strong curiosity to learn more about the subjects taught in school.
Creativity in a Company
Office managers need to promote well-being and creative solutions for employees, more than just free coffee, free snacks. Each employee should be able to choose a creative activity for developing and growing creative skills and imagination.
The majority of employees go through career stagnation and even burnout, which is a lack of engagement in the workplace, a lack of purpose, lack of professional growth and development. It’s just a matter of when that happens and how you go through it.
Work-life balance is usually defined as the amount of time at work versus the amount of time outside of work. However, in my system, it means harmony, a complement to our spirit, as a way of pursuing personal growth, purpose while using and developing natural abilities.
Creativity in the workplace leads to problem-solving, innovation, and personal fulfillment. Creativity can significantly impact the environment. And vice versa, a stimulating and positive environment can foster creative thinking.
Payment
All my services, creative arts for developing creative thinking, are structured based on a fixed number of hours, with a clear purpose. It can be a short-term engagement such as a keynote, a hands-on workshop. But it can also be a long-term engagement such as a professional training course.
Therefore, the fee depends on several factors, such as:
- Format type: keynote, workshop, coaching, training
- Event type: in-person, virtual
- Number of attendees
- Follow-up: with or without reports and reflections
- Any additional specific tailored needs
Feel free to contact me for more information. Please provide as much information as possible by giving an audience description and event details.
Ten Benefits of Working with Creative Arts
The beauty about life is that there is no limit to creativity. But, it takes a level of commitment, dedication to develop our creative spirit, to stay on track till it matures.
While growing in age people stop pursuing their creativity. What if it’s the other way around? When we stop developing our creativity, we grow old!
The degree of our creativity generates and creates new kinds of ideas, solutions, and possibilities. It’s a different kind of thinking. It’s about developing a creative mindset, thinking outside the box with an attitude of confidence.
- Challenge your perceptions: Dare to think creatively, dare to be creative, dare to challenge your perceptions. In fact, dealing with perceptions is fundamental in creative arts.
- Self-expression: All forms of arts represent a unique self-expression, it’s part of our emotional wellbeing. It positively affects the mood, cognition, and behavior.
- Visual communication: Visual communication means storytelling; it’s how we communicate information and create experiences across a range of visual mediums.
- Spontaneity: Art-making activates the reward system of the brain. It evokes a sense of pleasure and therefore it increases the level of relaxation, imagination.
- Critical observation: Observation is a skill, and like any skill, it can be learned and developed. But, critical observation is the keen ability to observe something with great attention to detail and accuracy above the surface level.
- Mental relaxation: According to brain science, art-making activities take place in a spectrum of Alpha frequencies, the brain is relaxed and unwind, so over time it improves the brains’ and body health.
- Stimulating fulfillment: Psychology found that art making is therapeutic, it reduces mental stress, anxiety, depression and significantly boosts well-being by stimulating the feelings of expression and achievement.
- Meaningful social interactions: Art-making as a group becomes a meaningful social connection since there’s no “judge” filter as a way of perceiving the work of others, it is a natural state in us as a being.
- Deliberate choices and inspiration: Art making implies taking quite a lot of choices in the form of emotions and thoughts but there’s always a purpose behind.
- Access to creative teachings: The given content has been designed over a vast academic experience under a multicultural environment; now is being presented like a wisdom short-cut of information.
Ten Most Popular Topics
All my topics can be delivered in different formats such as keynote, workshop, coaching, training; and the format method can be online or on-location.
1 Think Like an Artist. Train Your Mind to See Beauty
At the heart of visual arts lies the power of the artist’s imagination, but at the center of imagination is a rich tapestry of real-life experiences. These experiences, combined with the keen ability for observation, generates imaginative powers in our minds, boosting our perceptions.
2 What a Character Animator Does
Children and adults are avid consumers of digital entertainment. Discover what it takes to be an animator. Discover the art of character animation, also known as the illusion of life. Character animation is the art of visual storytelling but also the artistic science of human behavior.
3 What a Concept Artist Does
Again, children and adults are avid consumers of digital entertainment. Discover what it takes to be a concept artist, rather than a consumer. Explore the world-building process used in the development of creative stories such as animated films, games, illustrations or comic books.
4 Develop Imagination Through Creative Arts
Our minds tend toward habitual thinking, replaying the same patterns repeatedly. However, we can train our minds to cultivate imagination and spontaneity in our regular thinking. I offer visual arts activities, brainstorming visualization, and storytelling that nourish the mind and spirit.
5 Real Physics Explained Through Creative Arts
To capture the illusion of life through movement, the animator has a strong understanding of the most significant physics theories in relation to motion such as Newtonian mechanics and gravity. The animator must possess a logical and analytical approach in order to portray a believable illusion of motion.
6 Real Anatomy Explained Through Creative Arts
To create fictional characters which are believable in their feel and appearance, the concept artist has a strong understanding of human body construction and anatomy. Even if the character is stylized and not anatomically accurate as in the real world, it still embodies believable elements of real anatomy.
7 Real Psychology Explained Through Creative Arts
To portray characters with personality, the artist studies personality psychology, as patterns in human behavior that shape individual characteristics. The character can be anything and anyone, but it expresses a wide range of emotions expressed through its stance, facial expressions, and hand gestures.
8 Personal Branding as an Authentic Art Portfolio
Construct an art portfolio showcasing a collection of original artwork. This portfolio can be physical or digital and can be created at any age and on any subject matter. However, its purpose is to remain faithful to your values and ideas.
9 Connection Between Teachers and Students
A meaningful student-teacher relationship creates a wholesome classroom environment that helps students develop self-worth and self-confidence. It doesn’t matter the grade, the subject or the level of complexity; it simply brings out the best in each student.
10 Self-Care Between Workplace and Homeplace
It’s about self-education in order to bring harmony between the workplace and personal fulfillment. It’s about looking at both weaknesses and strengths to better manage personal energy through multiple elements such as: art of work, art of self knowledge, art of social adjustments, art of self control and nevertheless art of health.
Let’s Connect. Book a Free Session
If interested in my creative arts services for developing creative thinking you can contact me through my website, use the contact form, or simply click the button below. I’ll confirm your request within 48 hours.
We’ll begin with a complimentary 60 minute session, which I call “Get to Know Eachother”. During this session, we’ll establish the goals based on your needs and audience. Afterward, I’ll provide you with a proposal and payment plan.
You can find me here:
- Website: https://www.cristinateachingart.com/
- Artstation: https://www.artstation.com/cristinazoica
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristinazoicadumitru/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cristinateachingart
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cristina.teaching.art/
- Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/user/cristina-zoica-dumitru/
If you can’t figure out your purpose yet, figure out your passion. For your passion will lead you to your purpose. Embrace every second of learning something new because the Universe will always make a roadmap for true passionate people.
Cristina
An educator with passion and purpose
