Issue #13/Creative Possibilities is a section of Good and Beautiful Things, dedicated to sharing parts of my creative journey in order to spur on your own.
“-creativity is a gift that everyone has access to. You don't have to be a writer or a painter as a day job…there's benefit in cultivating a creative practice, even if nobody ever sees it. In fact, I think it's always more delicious when you're creating from a place of doing it simply for yourself. “
-Suleika Jaouad, artist and writer
Let me take you on a little Tour of Making Things, sponsored by my messy art desk. Along each stop I’ll share one reason I feel compelled to make things with my hands. At the end I’d love to hear what reasons you would add to this list or what you made this week.
Tour Stop #1 — I make things to Pay Attention
Small daily practices help me pause and take notice of what brought me joy or sadness each day. This is the second month in a row I’ve made a grid that I can add a word or drawing to each night before I go to bed. I take the first idea that surfaces and spend about five minutes filling in one of the blocks. Afterwards I jot down a few lines in my five year journal.
When I made the collage below it helped me name the desire of my heart in that moment, the desire to experience silence in the space around me and in my own mind. By pausing to listen and then make something with my hands, I had to pay attention to my heart rather than barrel on through the day.
What about you? What daily habits in your life help you pay attention?
Tour Stop #2 — I make things To Play.
“If an idea pops into your head and it’s weird, follow it!”
-Carla Sonheim, artist and teacher
I don’t know if you’re like me but I tend to take life pretty seriously. I forget that although there are some parts of being human that are very serious not ALL parts have to be so intense. Art can be a reminder for me to lighten up.
It’s important to find voices that invite us to play. Making art side-by-side with my kids when they were younger helped me tap into the playfulness and confidence that young children bring to a blank page.
Picasso said, It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.
The art teachers I feel drawn to have decades of experience and skill but they’ve learned how to hold their work loosely. They leave room to be delighted and surprised by what shows up from the pen in their hand.
Inspired by the style of outsider artist, Chase Ferguson, my year-long art class made paper pebbles (think “pet rocks” but the rocks are made from paper and tape). There wasn’t a practical or lofty reason to make them, the goal was just to have fun!
I can’t help but smile when I look at these birds. They seem so earnest about their yoga practice.
What about you? Do you consider yourself a playful person? In life or in your creative habits? Is it a quality you hope to grow in?
Tour Stop #3 — I make things To Savor
Last weekend my husband and I went away together for the weekend. Even though this year marks our 25th Anniversary, we’ve only taken a few weekend trips with just the two of us.
I hope there won’t be any dying muskrats, our son said the day we packed up to leave.
He was referring to a previous getaway, a tale that grows more tall each time we tell the story. I don’t have the time to do justice to that story right now but I can tell you that I too hoped there wouldn’t be any dying muskrats on our trip.
The Airbnb turned out to be fantastic and it was located on what felt like our own private river. I’m thrilled to report that there were no dying animals spotted the entire weekend.
We spent a good part of our time swinging on the back porch while a variety of chickadees and nuthatches and woodpeckers came to say hello. We also hiked at a few parks nearby.
While we were at the house I sketched the view from the back porch and later on used a photo we took to draw some of the beauty we saw at the state park.
When I sketch a scene from my life it helps me tune into the details and textures of the moment. I’m able to slow down and savor the experience and also tuck it into my muscle memory to appreciate later.
What about you? Do you have any creative practices that help you savor the big and small moments that you want to remember?
Tour Stop #4 — I make things To Learn
I went to see Beetlejuice the Musical this week with two of my young adult kids. The main couple in the show is mocked for their mundane, suburban life. They go to farmers markets, they dream of running a coffee shop and they enjoy adult education classes like pottery and ballroom dancing.
I might be wrong but I think a lot of adults enjoy learning new things more than when they were in school. I know I do. I’m a much better student now than when I was fifteen or even twenty. Choosing to learn instead of being forced to learn is one of the main differences I’ve experienced.
Honestly when I homeschooled my four kids one of the best parts was learning alongside them. Subjects that seemed abstract and out of reach when I was in school, like math and history, came alive as an adult student.
I’ve been taking online art classes for over a decade now. Over that time, I’ve simultaneously grown in my skill and in my ability to playfully embrace imperfections. I’ve noticed that I gravitate toward teachers who value both aspects.
During spring break these past two weeks, I took a class on Urban Sketchbooking with Lewis Rossingnol. He’s a gifted artist and a wonderful teacher and I can’t believe how much I’ve learned in a short amount of time.
What’s great is that I will inevitably take the new skills from this class and funnel them back into the moments that I’m sketching to pay attention, to play and to savor. It’s a beautiful cycle.
What about you? Are you a better student now or when you were younger? Are you currently learning any new skills, taking any classes? What would you like to learn if you had the time and money?
Here’s one of my completed assignments from the Urban Sketchbook class: a castle we saw in Caen, France when we traveled with our daughter last year.
And here are a few other assignments waiting for their final touches:
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I don’t believe we’re all meant to draw or paint but I do believe we all have creativity available to us.
“I'm reminded of something our friend Liz Gilbert says often, which is you have to be 1% more curious than afraid. And so, for me, when it comes to choosing a medium, it's really that curiosity, it's following that thread of intuition without any expectation of being good or bad at something, and just tapping into that…childlike creative state of doing some things simply for yourself, for the pure joy of experimenting, and playing.”
-Suleika Jaouad
What other tour stops would you add? What about making things in order to process life? or to encourage or bless someone else?
Continuing the Creative Journey
I’ve been listening to a lot podcasts over the last two weeks during my art time. A friend and I have noted a similar theme across several podcast episodes: men or women over eighty-five who have wisdom to share and are still showing up in the world with curiosity.
Find Vocational Clarity with Parker Palmer on The Next Right Thing with Emily P. Freeman
On Poetry, Creativity and Madeleine L’engle: Luci Shaw on the Life with God/A Renovare Podcast
Alan Alda: Stay Curious on Everything Happens with Kate Bowler
The following podcasts don’t fit in the 85 and Older Club but they were great conversations that carried similar themes to the ones above.
David Brooks: How to Know a Person on Clear and Vivid with Alan Alda
Marilynne Robinson on Biblical Beauty, Human Evil and the Idea of Israel on The Ezra Klein Show
Blessings from the Guest Nest,
-Aimee
P.S.—Thanks so much for reading! You can support the writing and art I share each week by donating to my art supply fund.
I loved your tour and you’ve got me pondering why I make things… and why I don’t, in some cases. Thanks for getting me thinking.
Hi Aimee, I enjoyed seeing these glimpses into your practices of art and listening and paying attention. Super inspiring!
To answer your question, I am a late in life learner, getting my teaching credential when I was 40, and then teaching for 20 plus years after that. My first book of poetry was published when I was 68, and my second one just came out last summer. I'm not quite in the Luci Shaw club, but grateful to God for other folks over 70 who continue to inspire me and companion the way, especially in poetry.
PS I just read your essay over at Cultivating--so ridiculously perfectly timed...God gave me that passage in Hebrews through my Spiritual Director just the other day. The words have been tumbling around in my spirit ever since. Thank you!