I have found creativity and art to be so healing and such an important part of my life. Following in my mother and grandmothers’ steps, I have loved sewing, painting, crafting, fiber arts, and anything else I can learn and create. I think art is for everyone. My husband is far more analytical than I am but he finds such joy in his photography. There is an artistic streak in all of us.
I have found creating to be a way for me to keep busy while I wait for this darn house to sell. It helps keep depression away. It is easy to find oneself at a standstill with art. We tend to limit ourselves. There is nothing stopping us from stepping further into the unknown! It is natural to worry about what others think, if it’s good, whether we can do it or not. We don’t know if it will sell, what to paint, what to make, what to do. We’ll create after housework, after errands, after awhile. I, for one, only created when I had a concrete idea. But there is so much more fun to be had!
I’d like to challenge you- whether you think you are an artist or not- to create every day. The “what if” challenge! I have been trying to get into my studio every day and create. Instead of thinking that I need to get a canvas done, I have a multi-media notebook that I can pull pages from, paint on, screw them up, and put them back in. I don’t have to make anything good. I just need to paint. The “what if” comes with no expectations. For example: What if I put dried coffee grounds in the painting as dirt? What if I use all grey scale? What if I try and paint without looking? What if I try and paint a person?
Through this, I have noticed where my blocks are. When I was little I was taking an art class with my younger sister. It must have been through our church because we were painting crosses. My four year old sister made something unique and everyone lost their minds! Her crosses appeared in the church bulletin and my mother bragged to anyone that would listen. My sister was an extraordinary artist and could paint realistically. I was never acknowledged as an artist, so I told myself I wasn’t. I was known as the writer. All these little things we forget that govern our actions even into middle age! My sister painted a realistic looking deer, I remember. Do you know that I never painted a deer until last year? It was almost like I figured it wouldn’t be as good, so why bother? How ridiculous! Everyone is an artist with their own expression of life.
The “what if” challenge doesn’t expect anything good, but some wonderful things can occur during these sessions. I fell in love with palette knives and created some really cool effects that I did end up creating on canvas after practicing.
What if I paint with a fork? What if add collage? What if I paint myself? What if I scribble all over the page? What if?
What are you creating right now? I want to hear all about it!
Farmgirl School 
Oh my heart, I had a similar experience, one of my teachers telling me that my friend was much more talented than me, and it put me off until recently when I decided to start doodling little scenes and paining little decorations just for a little hobby in the evenings. The tortoise is very cute. 😊
Ooh I’d love to see what you’re making! ❤️
Creating art is my meditation, my escape, my addiction and certainly my venting space (as I often curse and yell OUT LOUD when frustrated)
Here is the list of my creative self currently: My novel: The Reset Astrid Goldstone is being recorded and am working near daily with the voice actor to “get it right” I am also learning to compromise and be tolerant as my characters won’t sound exactly as I hear them in my head or how they actually sound because one of the characters in my book is a real person that anyone who is reading this will know! I also keep up my main characters facebook page with more content that comes to me about the characters lives outside the novel.
Again I am preparing my Azyurmahna pieces, my ABR charms and the new “Chakra Bros” Guy’s necklaces for the Enlighten Living Faire in October.
I joined The Rogue Valley Writers Collective and took a class about “flash fiction” which I never heard of before. I thought my stuff was nothing as good or anything like everyone else’s in the class. I felt so crestfallen I never even took the class papers out of my car trunk (they are still there). Then the same writers collective had a flash fiction contest which I actively avoided but realized the only way to guarantee I was a loser is to not send anything in. I can’t stop writing (See? I am doing it even now!) and polished up some old and new stuff to fit the rules and sent it in. Night before last I got an email saying one of my stories was accepted and I was a finalist! The finalist will be published and receive a copy of the book. I figure “That’s winning enough for me!” However that’s not the end of it. The finalist’s stories will be offered to local artist who will read and choose a story to create a piece of art. Those that are made into art are the winning stories. But it gets better: Those pieces of art and all the finalist will be at a gallery showing and one piece of art and story will be voted in by the crowd as the grand prize winner. So, now you know why my housework is never done.
Conserve Water Like Your Life Depended On It!
Oh Melody, how wonderful! Thank you so much for taking the time to share this. Congratulations!
Did you get my book? It was supposed to be delivered yesterday.
Yes! I sent you a text! Thank you thank you!
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