Creativity: Week 3 2024 - Re-energising My Creative Flow

Week 3: Rejoice - I will celebrate the small things I achieve. (SoulSistersToo - Soulfilled)

Intention Setting: I will take moments to pause and celebrate before I move onto my next project or task.

Some weeks are in between weeks, where my creative energy needs a replenish. This mostly happens upon our arriving at our Canberra home*. This week has been a week of catching up on all of the admin stuff and appointments I don't do while in Gerringong.  

To re-energise my creative flow I;

• listen to podcasts
• journal
• see friends and family
• plus doing some creative play

On this trip to Canberra I found a bundle of recipes from magazines on my art table. So I decided to create a folder that could travel with me between homes. 

I created the folder using a large piece of thick paper, copy paper, washi tape and tombow brush pen. Now I have a Cooking Joy folder - a collection of recipes to inspire creativity in the kitchen - that can be popped into my work travel box that I take back and forth between homes.

*I am fortunate to have the opportunity to live part of each month in our two homes, one in the NSW coastal town of Gerringong and the other in Canberra.

Creativity: Week 2 2024 - Yummy New Cotton Threads

Week 2: Self-Assuredness - I believe in my abilities. (SoulSistersToo - Soulfilled)

Intention Setting: Spirit guide me in knowing that I have what it takes to make my dreams come true. 

Yummy new cotton thread ready to be added to my painting that wanted to be more. 

Some of the DMC stranded cotton colours I selected are;

• light cornflower blue
• bright turquoise
• pale lilac
• light violet
• very light tan
• light pistachio green
• very light pistachio green
• light khaki green
• mahogany - ultra very light

Creativity: Week 1 2024 - Play...play...play

Week 1: Self Control - Stop! Be calm and relax. (SoulSistersToo - Soulfilled)

Intention Setting: Enjoy each moment of the day. Let go of what you cannot control.

I have an inkling that my recent patchwork paintings and using thread in my artwork is not yet done. Seeds of ideas are forming but not yet concrete for my next series. What I do know is that I would like to;

• combine paint and textiles
• explore blue, white and grey
• explore clouds and pattern and movement 
• but also explore shapes and irregular patterns. 

And while reflecting upon this in my journal I spied out of the corner of my eye two unfinished acrylic painted canvases. For two years I've been asking them questions:

• Are you finished yet?
• Am I truly happy with you?

Then a new question formed. With cotton thread could I add texture, line, something that will make them more? Play...play...play.

Inspirational Quotes: Journaling helps focus my thoughts and brings peace to my soul.

 

How are you growing?

At the begging of each year I spend some time dream visioning and creating a time line to achieve my goals. My main focus for 2020 was to;

• form habits to maintain a healthier lifestyle,
• support, connect and inspire creatives to live their dream life and
• create art to share, exhibit and sell.

When COVID arrived I realised that I would need support from a creative coach whose energy would help keep me focused and feeling positive. 

This week I have been reflecting on how have I grown during 2020.

• This year is the first time I’ve truly said yes to support from a coach, accountability sisters and from other wise women.
• I am learning how to not listen to my inner critic and create new stories to listen to. 
• I am embracing my perfectly imperfect life because forming new habits is hard. 
• I am listening more to the knowledge and wisdom that is already inside me. 
• I am learning to be vulnerable and put my artwork into exhibitions and competitions. 
• I have learnt to consistently do activities that I know will raise my energy levels when I feel low.
• I now recognise which days I need to go gently on myself and I give myself permission to take this time to rest and recover, especially at the beginning of my menstruation cycle. 
• I have grown spiritually. Finding peace within the energy of nature and meditation.
• I also have learnt to pause between activities and celebrate all of my small wins. 

How have you grown this year?

The Inspiration of a New Calendar

The festive season is over, I've opened a new calendar and January 2020 is here. 

Questions and thoughts begin to flow around the topic of goals, the word of the year, what my calling is and most importantly what marks will I make on that blank page.

The first week or two of January have been about planning.

• Participating in the Woman Unleashed (Amber Kuileimaijai Bonnici) online retreat Solstice and the Schulman Art (Miriam Schulman) workshop about The Art of Art Journaling. 
• Brainstorming goals of 2020.
• Refining the goals list into actionable, bite sized goals.
• Selection of my word of the year. MOTIVATED
• Reading and journaling about My Dream Life with the kikki.K (Kristina Karlsson) book Your Dream Life Starts Here. 

Now I'm feeling more focused and ready to paint with watercolour again. But as always after a break in creating with a specific medium (I'd been using acrylic paint in my art journal not watercolours) the fear of the blank page hits me.