6 Sep

Before the Creative Process
That thing about creating that Hemingway knew
The thing is to become a master and in your old age to acquire the courage to do what children did when they knew nothing. ~ Ernest Hemingway
And what is it, exactly, that children do when it comes to making art?
They are—
Excited
Fearless
Present
Pleased
Prolific
What are the things they don’t do?
Compare
Second-guess
Destroy
Procrastinate
Feel shame
Hmmm. Do you see a trend here of what happens in the making of our art?
We can see what happens when we approach our creative time with joy.
Joy seems to be the natural state for a child.
We can also see what happens when we approach it with fear.
Fear can be a natural state for us big kids.

Peonies at the cottage
I’m going to challenge this big kid approach, though.
We can choose, anytime we want, to shed that big kid thinking and return to the youngster we each carry inside.

Guess who?
Art is here for us.
To abandon ourselves to the sheer joy of being alive.
It is not here to judge us, shame us, or make us feel less.
Whatever you have happening this week, I encourage you to let your inner child pick up a brush, a pen, some paint and express the joy of life.

Vintage bottle
It’s all we have and it’s beautiful!
Note: The watercolors shown here are small pieces, done with great joy this summer at the Dream.Love.Paint cottage. No ‘big kids’ were involved 😉 Postcards from Paris, my watercolor journaling course, opens this month.
Hope you can come play with me!!

Hello Dreama…Just listened to your podcast about finding yourself at 50. It was quite inspirational. I love your fresh painting and pleasing way of teaching. I have been a professional art teacher and fine artist all my life. I also love to write creatively and enjoy reading your topics and looking at your work. I’m glad I found you.
Best regards.
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