I started my vacation on Friday with a trip to the spring One of a Kind Show and Sale at Exhibition Place here in Toronto. I grabbed my camera and my journal and headed out to fill my well and perhaps have some inspiring creative conversations!
I asked several vendors for their best tip on finding the courage to create.
Within minutes of arriving at the show, I had a great chat with Hannelore Sotzek. She shared how perfectionism can be paralyzing and how years ago getting this tidbit of wisdom from a pediatrician made all the difference. I bet that will make a difference to you too!
“Be open to inspiration! It’s everywhere, from your grandmother’s cookies to graffiti.”
This tip from Angela Filbert, the creator of Whipped Cosmetics, was rooted in her own creative approach. I loved hearing her inspirations for her Hula sugar scrub – tikki huts, a few too many blue Hawaiians and a woman with sass! She even shared with me her notebook full of drawings, gatherings and inspirations. Here’s another brilliant tip she threw in the mix:
I was totally caught by th modern and fun design at “said the king”. When I asked, “How did you get started with creating?” I loved Karen’s answer: “I saw my boyfriend producing stuff and I thought, I can do that!” What might you get started with the simple words, “I can do that”?
“As adults, we focus too much on product. The key is to play.”
When I saw the name Ugly Pots, I simply had to ask about it. Pam explained that if beauty is slick, perfect and mass-produced, then these non-symmetrical, one-of-a-kind, “imperfect” creations must be ugly. It is powerful to hear an artist share her point-of-view and to see it so clearly reflected in her work.
With all of this glass, mirror, transparency and trees, With All My Art had me spellbound. Luckily I was able to come down to earth long enough to ask for a creative tip from Katherine Omally Greer, who without hesitation exclaimed, “Stop postponing life!” There will never be the perfect time so make now your time.
As well as great creative conversations, I had a delightful time immersing myself in creative inspiration. It was fascinating to notice trends for this season and in my own heart. I was surprised by how often I was drawn to ceramics, especially at Atelier Tréma. Their colour story drew me in completely and I had to go back several times to settle on what I was going to bring home.
This gorgeous bowl, the colour of earth and sky, spoke to my heart. I was delighted to find that it is food safe and even dishwasher friendly. I have a feeling that little by little I’ll be adding to my collection. I have my eye on les poires as well!
It was an inspiring day at the show and the perfect way to start out my holiday! I’ll be back in the studio next Monday.
Every Sunday is Art Day at our house. This week we decided to be unstructured and grab whatever project or idea called our name. Shannon explored drawing a Christmas cactus and I bopped around from project to project, starting with taking the next step with my found flowers.
One of the things I am thrilled to be noticing is that as I create more and more work I find that I need less and less to like each piece. Last week I liked what I made. This week, I found myself trying to figure out what I didn’t like and why. It wasn’t heartbreaking. Instead it was (and is) a conundrum I’m working on and that feels like good ground to grow on.
Even so, after a while I was ready to take shift gears and play with animals and wire! I had such a fun and fascinating experience creating Zeb that I was excited to go on another adventure. Which creature-in-waiting wanted to play?
I have no idea what this little beauty will turn into. I just know that she wanted to stand and have a big fin/wing that I’m imagining wrapping with string in some way. One thing I’ve learned with these creatures is to stand back and let them emerge!
I wrapped up with the simple pleasure of starting another art journal page background. This is how I started all of my found flower pieces. I wonder what I will find in here!
Snowy Sunday afternoons are just about the perfect time for an afternoon of art, especially when soup stock is bubbling and a crockpot dinner is cooking for when we’re done!
My sister Shannon and I are enrolled in Carla Sonheim & Lynn Whipple’s The Year of the Spark and absolutely loving it. This Art Day we focused on a lesson about painting and collage on plexiglass. We actually couldn’t find any plexiglass so we worked on glass, using basic clip frames you can find in the dollar store. The acrylics do lift off fairly easily from the glass surface so we experimented a lot to discover approaches that would work and enjoyed every moment!
All the while, my gessoed animals were standing by wondering when it was going to be their turn.
The thing is, if you stand still long enough, you’re going to get glitter bombed!
And end up in a photo shoot!
As if that wasn’t enough fun, I managed to sneak in some time with my art journal, developing this mixed media piece of imaginary flower images I “discovered” in the background I created days ago. I love that experience uncovering a mystery and can’t wait to continue to work on this piece.
A regularly scheduled Art Day is having a huge impact not only on my creative life but also on the way I show up on Mondays! I’m looking forward to bringing an Art Day Virtual Retreat to you March 21st. You pick the project. Together we create the safe space :)
At our house, little by little, Sunday afternoon has turned into “Art Day.”
Of course, in some ways, every day is art day! I’ve always got journals on the go and knitting/crochet projects at hand. I’m doodling all the time and I’m learning to play guitar. I’m creating meals and outfits and videos and dreamboards. I’m pretty much glued to my camera. I’m always imagining, wondering and getting curious about life. My eyes and heart are open for inspiration and beauty and opportunities to learn and I do my best to express my spirit every day in every way.
In the midst of this creative life, it’s wonderful to open up a big free space to get messy, use a bazillion supplies and be totally immersed in art!
The first official Art Day was a couple of years ago when my sister Suzie was in town. My sisters and I thought it would be awesome to spend anafternoon creating and chatting over multiple cups of tea. We had a blast! Then last year, we all signed up for Life Book and Shannon and I tried, as often as we could, to meet up at my kitchen table and create together.
Soon we co-opted the kitchen bookshelf for supplies: acrylics, watercolours, gouache, markers, charcoal, pastels, glue guns, scissors, washi tape, sketchbooks, palettes, bubble wrap…you name it!
Art utensils took over the top of the piano, which I know my mom would be absolutely delighted to see. (In fact, many of these supplies I received from her.)
It’s taken two years for Art Day to establish itself in our lives and in our home but now it is here to stay! Here are some things I’ve learned along the way. I hope these tips support you in creating an Art Day too!
Tips for Creating Art Day for Yourself
Scheduling: Whether you’re creating Art Day as a regularly scheduled event or a one-off, make it official by putting it on the calendar. Let everyone participating (including yourself) and everyone impacted (like people you share the space with) know that this time is committed to a very important activity!
Time: Give yourself the gift of a solid block of time; an entire morning, afternoon or evening is ideal. As often as we can, Sunday afternoons are our Art Day.
Space: Use what space you have. If we wait to create until we have the perfect set-up, we’ll never get there! Get strategic about how to make what you have work. Set up Art Day on the floor in front of your TV or in a corner of your bedroom or in your backyard. Figure out a travel pack and find a coffee shop or a patch of green. I set up and clean up at my kitchen table and it has become one of my very favourite places to be.
Set Up & Clean Up Include set-up and clean-up time in your plans. Even now it amazes me that the first whole part of Art Day can be spent just getting things out and ready! There’ s nothing more disappointing than finally getting all your supplies in order and realizing you only have a half an hour left to create! One of my favourite strategies is to gradually get everything in place throughout the morning in prep for the afternoon. When I make a cup of tea, I put out the paper. When I’m putting the dishes away, I get out the paints. This way the prep isn’t onerous and when I’m ready to sit down, it’s all there! (It reminds me of how my grandma used to set the breakfast table before she went to bed.)
Make It Easy On Yourself: One of my favourite new strategies is getting dinner ready before I sit down to create. To that end, Art Day is now officially Crockpot Sundays at our house! This way I can create all afternoon and then enjoy a wonderful, warm, home-cooked meal that feels like a treat instead of beign faced with, “Oh, man, now I have to make dinner?!” (Here’s what I made this week and it was awesome!)
Choose a Project: In the week coming up to Art Day, choose a project to work on and also have one in the wings. It can be very intimidating to sit down to a table full of art supplies. It’s easy to find yourself stuck with one simple, paralyzing thought: now what?! I’ve found it helpful to be involved in a class or a program that offers up a series of lessons, like Life Book or Spectrum (which I’m teaching at this year!) or Year of the Spark (which I’m taking this year!) You could also work through a book like Flora Bowley’s Brave Intuitive Painting or Mati Rose McDonough’s Daring Adventures in Paint or find a project on YouTube or Creativebug. Lisa Congdon’s line drawing class rocked my world and she has a new one up too.
Choosing a project ahead of time gives you focus and also a chance to make sure you have all the art supplies you need. I also like to have a second project in the wings in case I start working on something and find it’s not for me or discover I forgot an important material or didn’t notice that the project’s first stage takes a full day to dry.
What to Wear: I love having an art apron to wear. I think it’s less for mess protection and more that it reminds me of when I was a little kid and would wear a smock (aka one of my dad’s old shirts). There’s something magical about donning a “costume” for creating!
I’ve also realized that I love taking pictures and sharing them throughout Art Day so I’ve come to realize it isn’t such a bad idea to put on some mascara or something, LOL!!
Journal: One of my favourite things that Shannon and I have recently implemented is finishing off every Art Day with journaling. This gives us the chance to reflect on what we’ve learned about art and what we’ve learned about ourselves.
Most Importantly: All in all, the most important part of Art Day is to enjoy it! It is a gift that you can give to yourself and to your creative heart – and I hope you will!
I hope you are inspired to create your own Art Day! If you do, I’d love to hear how it goes – and to see pictures!
If there’s anything else I can share to make it easier, let me know!
I had a wonderful week off, a great mix of playing & resting, doing & being. I might just have to keep that up!
I went to a new restaurant in the hood…
…attended The One of a Kind Show and Sale...
…created a flower gallery in our kitchen…
… visited with cats in the hood …
… took myself out for coffee…
… walked along the boardwalk…
… had a spa day…
… listened to birds…
