So….I have to apologize for my lack of interaction lately.
Life has a way of routing you places you don’t necessarily want to go, but that are necessary to said life. That is the way of it. But even in the absence of inspiration for you, the muse lives on in my brain. Here are a couple of things I have been working on recently while my blog was sleeping (shhhhhh!)
The fact that the creativity continued even in the face of adversity tells me that all of the practice, and the habits that we worked so hard to create in the last few months…worked!
You too?
I would love to see what you have been up to! Post some pics on instagram with the tag #creativefaith and let us all share in your successes!
Anyway, in the spirit of getting back into the groove, reigniting the creative spark, or waking up the muse….I thought a week of warm-ups would be quite nice.
So here we go-
Monday:
Do some deep knee bends, jumping jacks, or yoga (whatever gets your body saying “Yes! I’m awake now!) Then go outside (yes, in the cold if that is your situation) and sketch some outdoors.
This could be
- pine trees in your back yard
- piles of snow at the end of your driveway
- a river in the park near your home
- or even the dog next door
Choose something that speaks to you. Do a few sketches, quick and wild. Don’t worry about what they actually look like, no one has to see them but you. This is just to get that creative part of your brain moving again. You could just simply do washes of color in acrylics, watercolors or even inks. Abstract totally works here…as long as you can “see” what you are creating.
Tuesday:
Find something in your house that seems mundane, boring, or has always been just “part of the scenery”.
Look at it closely.
Use those microscopic powers of observation that you developed the week we created from the senses. What do you see? A color. Shape. Smell.
How could you describe this to someone who cannot see what you see? Someone who has never had the gift of sight. Describe it in minute detail using colorful words and an observant heart.
Write out this description in a journal, notebook or on a piece of paper.
This will help you to give words to your emotions, how you feel about things going on around you. Be as detailed as you can.
Wednesday:
Fill an entire piece of mixed media paper, watercolor paper, canvas, or a page in your art journal with swaths of color. Don’t think about what the color is, choose intuitively. Use a brush, key card, or even your fingers. But fill the whole page.
- This could include many colors or just one.
- It could be solid or full of texture and marks
- Try choosing one color and then varying the shades by mixing in black or white – or both!
Let it dry for a future project.
The idea here is color exploration and being fearless.
Thursday:
- Assemble 10 to 12 things that have something in common
- Arrange them in an interesting order (or on an interesting background)
- Take a picture of your collection.
Repeat this as many times as you can, then print out the pictures. You can assemble these into a book of collections. On each of the pages, create some lettering with pen, paint, stencils or markers giving a clue as to what these objects have in common that makes them a collection.
This won’t always be apparent to the random observer.
Try to think outside the box on this one and not choose something obvious.
Friday:
- Cut 10 pages out of a magazine, book, or newspaper.
- Stack the pages together and cut them to any size you like.
- Fold each of the pieces individually and create a booklet from them using a pamphlet stitch to bind them together.
These pages could be similar in subject, or even only similar in color, theme, or shape. The most interesting booklets have some common thread within them. These can be used for journaling in, painting on, or you could even glue in pictures of a friend or two and gift them.
Engaging in warm-up exercises can really get you prepped for something bigger. It is also a great way just to stretch yourself creatively and get your brain primed for work, projects, and even just the day that stretches before you.
I hope that you find that these activities wake the muse within and get you prepared for what comes next. Regular creative practice will help in so many areas of life, even with things that aren’t necessarily artistic. Give it a try!
Next week we will delve into a great project for holiday gifting.
See you then! Lisa
Creative Soul-Journs 