A Place To Play

Making art is a little scary to me. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s that I have so many choices, I get overwhelmed. It was much easier when I was in school and had professors giving me assignments. But I have discovered art journaling. There are lots of fantastic examples of art journals on Pinterest. I have a small journal with sturdy enough pages that I can use watercolor, gesso, acrylic paints, collage, stamps, anything I want. It isn’t a Big Project that will take lots of time, and if I mess it up it doesn’t matter. In fact, a lot of art journaling is beautifully messy, with layers of bright colors and different mediums. 

Someone told me that some tribes of Native Americans would intentionally put a “mistake” in every piece of art. I really like that concept. Art journals are supposed to be imperfect; that’s the whole idea. It’s so freeing to a perfectionist like me, and it’s a way of accessing parts of myself that writing alone can’t uncover. 

Creativity thrives on play. It’s a way to get back to the child in us. Children are so freely and fearlessly creative. “Art work” is too serious. Art should be play. It should be fun. And that kind of play could lead to some very good work.