Creativity, Courage, and Play
July 30th, 2008
"Creativity takes courage." -Matisse
I came upon the above quote today and it resonated. It does take courage to be creative. Sometimes it takes courage just to move. But it seems like once you get beyond that first step, it becomes effortless. At least for awhile, until you have to cross that courage threshold again and again and again. Pure playfulness helps me get over that threshold. And the journal swap I'm participating in has been a fun way to play. There is the small fear that other people will be seeing and later owning these journals and I don't want to disappoint, but mostly I can let that go. It's a swap and meant to be fun, so I'm getting playful with it. Yesterday I punched circles in one of the pages. Working along with the see-through quality of the pages, I made this page truly see-through in parts! Hehe. I didn't really think of it at the time I was doing it, but they also go along nicely with the rabbit in the narrative I'm creating because they're like little rabbit holes!
And here's what's on the other side of those holes. The second page isn't done yet.
While doing playful work in a journal is good fun, it's also good to play BIG sometimes! Today I used a large sheet of paper and just started painting on it with a painting knife. As forms appeared, I went with what I saw. No clue where it's going yet, but it's fun to mush the paint around and see where it takes me. And if it ends up as a big sheet of mud, well, that's o.k. too. Got lots to do this afternoon, so I'm off!
p.s. That's my kitty, Emma, above, who decided to take a moment from her nap in the sunny spot on the porch to come sit next to my foot. My toes are still very sparkly from my 2nd pedicure of all time that I got a couple weeks ago. I'm amazed it lasted so long!
10 Responses
Love the rabbit holes! My problem with playing big is that I’m always so scared I’m going to ruin something big! It seems like all of my sketches/watercolors end up being about the size of my hand and no bigger.
Posted by: Sarah Bray | Jul 30, 2008 at 4:52 pm |
So beautiful! I AM inspired by your blog and plan on adding it to my favorite blogs. I am particularily enchanted by the last photo. Lovely.
Posted by: Tammy | Jul 30, 2008 at 7:50 pm |
Love the journal pages, Leah! The rabbit holes, especially. Cute kitty and great pedicure you have there – a group of us did glittery toes online this past weekend, having a little silly fun. Posting the photo made me feel brave, since it wasn’t exactly a professional pedicure.
Thanks for the Matisse quote – I love that. I should post it over my desk.
Posted by: tinker | Jul 30, 2008 at 8:01 pm |
pedicures and play…two of my very favorite things!
Posted by: lucy | Jul 30, 2008 at 11:22 pm |
Sounds like you’re having fun!! And those are the cutest sandals EVER. (and the cutest kitty!!)
Posted by: jess gonacha | Jul 31, 2008 at 7:42 am |
Love the little trees you have that show through the holes!
Posted by: Shayla | Jul 31, 2008 at 11:21 am |
Such a holy journal…and holy process too of trusting your unconscious to unveil what wants to come up and out on paper. I like what’s coming up.
Your emma could be the sister to my henry v.
Posted by: lynn | Jul 31, 2008 at 11:50 am |
I love the very concept of these kinds of journals. Passing them between fellow artist, each one filling their pages with what is beautiful and meaningful or simply playful to them! I agree with lynn, it is a holy process! So true!
I don’t “let my creativity” just flow very often. I think I should let it do that more often. I like what comes out of those moments when I’m not paying too much attention to myself as I’m creating! Does that make sense?
Posted by: Julia | Jul 31, 2008 at 3:56 pm |
I really like the direction you are going with your journal. The tree motif that seems to be coming up all over the place is wonderful.
Posted by: Dale | Aug 1, 2008 at 2:18 pm |
Very neat idea, Leah. I can’t recall but didn’t you say you do a couple of pages in a journal & pass it on to someone else? Sounds fun.
Posted by: becky | Aug 1, 2008 at 5:30 pm |