Creative Themes, Breeder Ideas and Personal Mythology...

[Dan Goodwin]

WildCherry talked on her Unfinished Revolution blog post about this and suggested a discussion, and Robyn posted on her Art Propelled blog about Breeder Ideas in June:

"...Apparently an artist has about 4-5 breeder ideas in his lifetime, when one good idea leads to a whole sequence or series..."

What themes, breeder ideas, or, as Cherry put it, "Personal Mythology" have you noticed recurring in your own creative projects and art work?

It could be a particular symbol, image, character, message or some other element that keeps returning in multiple works.

Share your experiences, and what you think they might mean, with us below...

[Alfredo]

It is so interesting about spirals... From the DNA strand to how a plant grows to a Goddess symbolism and how galaxies swirl, spirals are in everything.

[Barbara Ann Storrier]

Not that I'm obsessed about the Wizard of Oz lately or anything ... but the Yellow Brick Road starts in the center of a spiral, right at Dorothy's feet.

So true, the spiral design can be found in multiple examples in nature. I look at it as sort of a way of life ... we come back around to some things,only on a different part of the path.

[WildCherry]

Or to paraphrase Julia Cameron, on a slightly higher path looking down at where we've been before...

[Dan Goodwin]

Like a spiral staircase...

[Valerie K]

Wizard of Oz--very powerful expression of archetypes and personality integration. We just saw Tin Man, and I was admiring how the post-modern take on the archetypes was really interesting...

My breeder ideas:
-"Ignore your psychic heritage at your own peril."
-androgyny (crossdressing to upsetting male/female roles)
-time travel
-intellect vs. intuition (professors that fall short in the latter)
-justice/balance and how to achieve it
-Holocaust, between-the-wars stories. How do you stand up to Fascism, and what will you do to survive?
-All my novels have an African Gray parrot named Henry. (It's a bit of NaNoWriMo shtick, like Mr. Ian Woon or the Traveling Shovel of Death (TM). He usually gets the ax, but he functions as a deus ex machina.)

[Jules]

I saw Tin Man as well- I did not think I would like it...I somehow felt it would be ripping off the Wizard of Oz. I ended up really enjoying it. They did a great job of uniting the two- I also found the post-modern take on the archetypes interesting-to borrow your phrase.

[Barbara Ann Storrier]

The Traveling Shovel of Death? Have you read Lisey's Story by Stephen King, Val?

[Valerie K]

Not yet, no. My husband has it on the towering stack of stuff to read....

[Barbara Ann Storrier]

Dig it out and read it Val .. but beware, it's hard to put it down :)

[June Walker]

I first saw the wizard of Oz on the big screen at the local cinema when I was about 2 or 3. My big sister took me. When the wicked witch appeared, I was TERRIFIED...and I ran out of the cinema with my sister in hot pursuit! I never saw the full picture till I was an adult. I loved it. I like Judy Garland. I liked all the baboons too.

My recurring theme is simply nature and social relationships I think. In both writings and visual art. I haven't developed a personal theme as yet, in myth or psychological stance, etc. Maybe the quest of the hero/ine.

[Valerie K]

I had a teacher in high school who was old enough to be a small child when the movie came out. Apparently Margaret Hamilton was a dead ringer for an unpleasant lady in their neighborhood and when she came out in all her green glory as the witch, my teacher had the same reaction and ran, much to the digust of her older sibling....

It's very interesting, because in Tin Man the same dynamic happens. The smaller sister runs away from the witch, who "captures" the older sister. (So Dorothy and the Wicked Witch are sisters.) I wondered if the two-sister theme showed up in a later Oz book that I didn't read.

[June Walker]

Valerie, I never read the Tin Man or any later Oz books/films. The 2 sisters theme is interesting though as its something that I relate to. In my child mind, I secretly coupled the witch with my sister, probably due to the coupling of the bad film experience with my sister chasing me. I had a really good laugh about it last night, and I've banished that unfortunate idea from my mind. My sister would be glad to know that. Funny tricks the mind plays.

I enjoyed the hobbit and alice in wonderland too. I think I am keen on the theme of the little wo/man overcoming the big fierce adversary!!