for the love
It's becoming more and more obvious to me that mixed media is at the heart of how this creative loves to create. There is making, and then there is MAKING.
There is pulling pieces and ephemera together and crafting an embellished cluster that is perfect for a scrap book page or a card front or a tag in and of itself. And then there is hunkering down and experimenting with backgrounds and ink and stencils and just hearing yourself say, 'let's try this'.
When I hear myself say that I feel like I am in for a good creative session that will be found in fresh discovering and for sure creative flow. Oh how we love that creative flow.
A recent creative session came to just that. Knowing I wanted to use some new to me dies and stamps to craft botanicals that would be at the ready for other surfaces, the making took a path that brought pure making joy with it.
And so what was discovered, you ask?
What was discovered was returning to doing it for the love of it.
Do you know that emotion?
It's true. As I was taking paper and ink, and a ne -to-me for that matter, it was either to be a creative resistance, or a 'let's just dive in and see what comes of it' moment. The true part was that this time in the studio was a discovery of a new to me way to prep backgrounds and allow the imperfection of the way the ink runs and dries to be platform to inky botanicals.
You can see that played out from start to finish in THIS video.
The side product of these die cut florals and leaves was the love of doing it.
I can only speak for me, but very VERY often my life has been one of productivity. Whatever I do has to have an end in mind or it's a waste of time. Quite honestly, that is not a way to be an artist. Not even a paper artist. As I recently heard a mentor say, 'not everything has to lead to something, but everything always leads to something'. Let that sink in for a moment.
Not everything I do has to have some creative Instagram worthy end in mind. I'm here to declare I am breaking that habit right here and right now. Jamie, I'm talking to you! LOL.
But, here's the beautiful and almost holy thing about this approach...when I just set it all down and play and explore and discover here in the studio, it always leads to something. ALWAYS!
Does that mean I have to post it on Stories or Facebook? No. No, actually, I don't. I don't have to do anything with it except be inspired by what transpired and perhaps maybe even build on it again at another time.
Returning to doing it for the love of it I think is a very important aspect of being an artist. It's not comparing our making to someone else's. It's not trying to keep up. It's not, for certain, it's not perfection. (anyone? anyone?).
It's joy. It's delight. It's quiet. It's meditative. It's discovery. It's, hopefully above all else, it's creative flow. And making beautiful things just for the sake of the beautiful things.
That's what has been happening to this girl's creative heart of late. It actually excites me and in turn invites me right back into the studio space again and again.
May your week be found creative and seeking beauty and returning to the love of it. Might you also find some love in this week's video tutorial too. This botanical making will find itself in the new class that will launch in March. It will also find itself again and again at work on the craft mat just because I love it.
Find that video here:
As well, leave a comment too. I absolutely love hearing from my creative friends. I always do my best to respond in kind.
Keep making!
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