Hello, hello my creative friends.
Today I thought I should spend a little time talking about creativity. When I did the oil painting course with Roisin O’Farrell she compared our creativity with a well. You can tap into it day after day, but at one point you will have to replenish the water or the well will dry up.
I think this comparison couldn’t be more right. Sometimes I just keep working and working and I don’t even go out for the entire day either because I’m too engrossed on my work or because I want to finish a particular project I’m working on by a certain date. However, this is not a good practice because after weeks spent like this I find myself completely exhausted and for a couple of days or so I’m actually not able to create anything; and then self doubt shows up, hand in hand with the inner critic, and they have a whale of a time!
Because let’s face it, as soon as us artists and creatives have an off day the first thing we think is “I knew it! I’m not good at this! See? I’ve run out of ideas already. Who am I kidding?” And so on.
The truth is we NEED to rest every now and again, we NEED to have a break and go fill up that well again!
So how do we do that? How do we refill our creative well? Some people like to visit a museum and take inspiration from beautiful paintings or even ancient artefacts; others like to go for a walk in the woods. Personally I love to go to the Royal Botanic Gardens of Kew. That is my safe haven, my oasis of tranquility and relaxation. When I’m in the gardens, surrounded by nature, I feel happy and relaxed and while I’m walking along the paths lined with beautiful flowers, or in amongst the rose garden, I start feeling new ideas sprout up from the dormant seedlings form they were in.
So don’t think you have to keep working, and don’t fell bad if for one day you decide to do something other than painting or drawing or making patterns. Even if that something else is actually doing nothing at all, or just sitting comfortably and reading a book while eating chocolate (now that sounds good doesn’t it?). Take time to nurture yourself and feed your well.
Till next time… relax and be happy!
Picture taken at Kew Gardens last June