Finding affirmation

Oh my goodness, what a day Monday turned out to be! I had my second puncture in a week and had to be 'recovered' with the little guy, by a big lorry! Simon got to ride in his car seat up front and enjoyed it, making 'brmmm, brmmm' noises as we went. 

We also had swimming lessons and a picnic with an old friend. Chatting with her helped banish some more crappy mummy myths, as did a lovely email from my daughter in law. The tribe of mummy and the tribe of artist are filled with self doubters, and we need to be kind, extend a hand, share an encouragement and help each other.

And what about creativity?

Well, I did do four more lines of quilting while Simon had a pre-swimming nap, and I made barbecue sauce for the left over pulled pork. I used ketchup, American mustard, brown sugar, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. I mixed in the pork and microwaved it. Yummy!

Now, I still have some creativity left over from the weekend to tell you about. I've been reading a book called Messy Canvas by Mandy Steward. You can find her website here http://www.mandysteward.com/ 

Her book 'Thrashing around with God' has sparked some thought and conversations over the past few weeks in our house, and actually led to me looking for the creativity in my own life. She was told, as a young mum of four, that art would have to take a back burner for a season. And she wasn't willing to accept that!

Anyway, after reading 'Thrashing about with God',  I read Messy Canvas and a couple of quotes really struck me as they are EXACTLY what I've been thinking. So I copied them into a notebook. (I was going to say my notebook, but I always have several notebooks which I am writing stuff in or drawing in)

Here's the first...about artists.

And here's the other one, which is about claiming the title of artist.

It's harder to read so here's what it says.

'They'll be expecting me to draw or paint or take pictures of their family and possibly dance...they won't understand it's my very life. My tools are all around me. Sometimes I paint with food. Sometimes I make music with laughter. Sometimes I write with hugs and touches and trips into nature. Sometimes I dance with sunsets and fireflies, sipping a glass of wine with the husband of my youth. My art is my life and I am always creating it.'

That's it! That is jolly well it! What I am trying to do and be and feel! I am an artist here and now, with what I have and what I can do, with my levels of time, energy, skill, finances and imagination. Would I like to be like Tracey Emin and have a studio and just do artist stuff all the time? Maybe, but there's already one of her and the world also needs one of me, with my creativity, influenced by my life, my faith, my circumstances, my experiences, my emotions. 

If you want to read Messy Canvas for yourself it's available for free in Mandy's shop here http://www.mandysteward.com/shop/?category=eBooks

Whatever you are doing today, enjoy it and revel in your creativity!

Lesson from a toddler - play and learn

I've been having a bit of a struggle recently as all the stress of moving calms down, and I try and get into a routine of life without builders around the place, and without all our usual toddler groups going on over the summer. I've packed our time with people to see and places to go, which is great, but tiring when you try and fit in all the other stuff. Yesterday was a prime example - take the car to be serviced (nuisance) and spend time with Mum and Dad (fun) while it's being fixed. Home for a nap and lunch then off to a new friend for a play date. Also fun, but nerve wracking as I realised we hadn't been to many other people's houses since Simon started walking! Other people's houses all full of interesting toys, including many this that you aren't supposed to play with! Simon just wandered in and made himself at home...I would love to be that relaxed and confident!

So was there time for creativity?

There was the inevitable breakfast smoothie, which is our weekday breakfast.

Then there was chocolate chilli which I made for dinner - basic chilli, but I add about a tablespoon of cocoa powder (not hot chocolate, proper cocoa powder) which makes it rich and yummy!

Then there was not a lot. I was tired and feeling a bit fed up really. Adrian had to go out in the evening for a little while so I grabbed my chance and just did some scribbling....literally.

Some more lettering. I like the top one, but the bottom one didn't really work out. It needs more time and thought, and my brain was not in a place to do that last night. Looking at it this morning, perhaps I need to draw circles first, then try 'slicing' the bits out?

After the lettering, I felt I wanted to be freer, I wanted to just draw, not think, just draw, quickly and without a plan or purpose, or even much thought.

So here's the results of that. I'm sure you could read a load of deep meanings into it, but I usually draw swirls and stars, and I like the strength of an underline compared to the flow of a loop or swirl.

I then did this one, which was a bit more purposeful.

And here's the final picture...

I am learning so much from my little guy being around. I've been keeping the tops from his baby food pouches as I thought they would be good to play with. They fit nicely in egg boxes, come in bright colours and are not teeny tiny and have ventilation holes in them if they go in the mouth! I put them on Simon's high chair tray while we ate dinner and he played for well over half an hour! They went in and out the box, in and out an egg box, on the floor with cries of 'help' to ask us to pick them up. I showed him colour sorting using plates from his tea set but that was a step too far at the moment. 

So what did I learn?

Be confident going in to new places...expect to have fun!

Explore things fully, keep playing and playing, trying new stuff and repeating stuff until you get good at it!

Sneak it in when you can!

Yesterday just seemed to fly by as we had a play date in the morning, and then me and Simon both crashed out for an afternoon nap! Zzz! Can't be creative if you're too tired, so these naps are important! 

I did make smoothie for breakfast...blueberry cinnamon, but I forgot the cinnamon, oops! And it was khaki...

I also did some lettering practice.

I recently started Bible journalling, which is illustrating, making notes, writing things in your Bible. My handwriting needed some improvement as it is sadly underused these days! (When I was a teacher and regularly using a black board - yes, I am that old - and a white board it looked quite good...now not so good!)

The key to good lettering is practice and experimenting, so here's the lettering I tried, complete with crossing out where I didn't like the result.

And what about the sneaking it in? I did the lettering in 5 minutes while waiting for Adrian to come and join me on the sofa to watch an episode of Death in Paradise! I'm learning to snatch those opportunities when I can!