Back To Creativity Basics...

          Doodling certainly took me back to my childhood roots and sparked ideas for yesterday and today’s creative explorations.  It made me think about WHY I was being drawn back to these comforting, simple ways to bring more Creativity into my day. I realized that this first week of exploring, I am taking baby steps out into a big, scary, exciting new adventure.  I always pictured myself as a leap out into space kind of person, but this time, it feels more like I am building a foundation of sorts on which to ground myself for this yearlong experience.

    Yesterday, I discovered the cans of play-doh while cleaning out our craft cupboard looking for something I’d misplaced.  Most of them had dried out (my kids are now 14 and 10) but a few cans were still nice and squishy.  There is something incredibly unique about the smell and texture of play-doh that can make you feel like a kid again.  The first shape most of us ever learned to make was probably a snake. We rolled out a long uneven coil and then poked eyes into it with a pencil or toothpick.  I strongly recommend buying a can to keep on hand for when the going gets tough.  Pounding a piece of play-doh into a pancake can help get rid of a lot of pent-up frustration!!

     Today, I took out some crayons to play with. Once again, the texture and smells took me back to when I first discovered crayons drew better than they tasted.  Every birthday or Christmas held the possibility of getting a new box of sharp, pointed crayons to colour with.  We sometimes belittle the importance of PLAY as we grow older.  Today, I rediscovered how much fun it is to draw without a plan and just make marks...

INHALE:  The unexpected does not have to be something to fear.  Not everything has to have a plan in our lives.  Sometimes, it is possible to just play and enjoy the process... the ACT of being creative; rolling dough between fingers, humming a tune under our breath, moving our bodies to music, letting words flow onto a page unhindered in free verse.  There is so much in your day that is structured, scheduled, demanded.  Today, claim back a bit of time from your childhood today and remember to live in the NOW.

EXHALE:  Find some play-doh to squish around and shape or try this activity that so captivated me today.  You will need a firm piece of watercolour paper, manilla paper or card stock to draw on.  Find some crayons. If you have kids, there should be plenty of pieces lying about the house.  If you don’t, treat yourself to a basic package somewhere... or splurge and rediscover the childhood delight of having 96 colours and a built-in sharpener!  Make some marks on the paper.  You don’t have to draw a picture - you can just make some of the doodle patterns from yesterday in a variety of wax colours.  Be sure to press fairly hard as you draw.  I found it both frustrating and liberating that the white crayon was so hard to see on the white paper.  At first I panicked about making the “right” lines... then I just gave up and had fun.  Once you are done, take a big brush and some watercolour or acrylic paint (raid your kids’ supplies if you have to) in your favourite colour(s). Swirl your brush around in plain water before picking up any of the pigment and wash it across your drawing so that the paint beads off the wax crayons marks.  Don’t over paint areas to much.  Just go quickly to cover all the white space and live with what happens.  This type of wax-resist painting never loses its magic...

I called mine “DANCE”...