Creative Play

This morning I happened upon a small notebook of watercolor paintings I made several years ago. And I realized that it has been about three years since I did any watercolor painting. Though I didn’t immediately get out my paint and brushes, I did decide to commit to more time to

in my life, like painting with watercolors.

Today I photographed some of my previous watercolor paintings and then played around with combining those photos with nature photographs that I made recently. Layering a photograph with a photo of a painting that I made, and then playing with different blend modes often creates surprising results.

Though many of my trials created nothing interesting, I liked a couple of my creations a lot. But mostly I was simply playing and seeing what I could do combining photographs and paintings in different ways.

We are all Artists

I believe that we are all artists and creators. Sometimes our art is with a brush or a camera, with a word or a smile, with a pen or musical instrument. But sometimes our art is simply being fully present in the moment. Have you ever been around someone whose presence seemed to bring a feeling of calm unconditional acceptance? I believe that is an art, my friends.

To create is to bring something into existence that wasn’t there before. It could be a conversation, the solution to a problem, a note to a friend, the rearrangement of furniture in a room, a new route home to avoid a traffic jam.
― Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being

What I think is important, is to explore and play with whatever it is that you create, to stay engaged, and not judge or compare yourself to others. Each person has his/her/their own backpack of issues, problems, and challenges. And sometimes those challenges keep a person from creating or doing what they love.

There is this belief that I’ve heard that one must get their art “out into the world” or they aren’t fulfilling their purpose or promise as an artist. And my answer to that is: It doesn’t matter whether anyone else sees your art. What matters is that you are doing your creative work, whatever it is.

Living life as an artist is a practice. You are either engaging in the practice or you’re not. It makes no sense to say you’re not good at it. It’s like saying, “I’m not good at being a monk.” You are either living as a monk or you’re not. We tend to think of the artist’s work as the output. The real work of the artist is a way of being in the world.
― Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being

So fellow artists (that means you!) take some time for creative play soon. And have fun!

May you walk in beauty.