Hi friends,
I wanted to make this blog post as a little reminder to you about something really important: Your creativity!
We are well and truly into the busy downward slope at the end of 2024 and I'm sure you're run off of your feet with Christmas shopping, end of year celebrations, work commitments needing to be wrapped up etc. etc. etc. I get it. So who's got time to paint??
Well I can understand if stopping to paint a pretty picture is not at the top of your priorities right now but I wanted to encourage you not to let it fall away from your thoughts all together. So often we are stuck in the rat race, hustle culture, hamster-wheel-of-death that we, as adults, do not take the time to play. The definition of 'play' is as follows:
'to engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose.' (Oxford languages)
Doesn't that sound nice? Freeing? A relief even?! Not everything you do must serve a tangible, measurable or saleable purpose. In fact, it is imperative to your own health and happiness that you take breaks from constantly "achieving".
As you know, I am a botanical watercolour artist. I'm also a very busy Mum, wife, homemaker and more. I'm not short on things I should be doing at any given time and most of my spare time goes towards chipping away at my art business. But I am definitely someone who makes time for and needs to play and be creative in some way. Last year I scored a free iPad (we literally found it on a junk pile to be thrown out) and I thought "this is it. I'm finally going to learn how to do digital illustrations!" I bought an apple pencil, a Procreate course to follow and started learning. It was a way of being creative without my art having to be perfect and saleable and connected to my business.
It was SO FUN.
It didn't necessarily bring me more joy than what my watercolours do but it certainly brought me a very different kind of joy that only comes when I'm learning something new. The bubbly, excited feeling, you know?
Have I mastered digital illustration? No. But I dabble. I also dabble in playing the piano, attend various genres of dance classes and occasionally head out to practise roller skating amongst other things. I do not practice enough at any of these things to be as good at them as I once was, or as good as I would usually aim to become. But that's the point. Don't ruin the fun by adding the pressure and expectations of being the best at it! Do it because you can and leave it at that.
So if you're feeling a bit burnt out at this busy time of year don't forget to take the time to do something creative. Pick up some knitting needles. Bake a torte. Blow some glass. Buy the skates and take them for a spin. Or, dare I suggest you book into my watercolour class in the new year?! I'd be happy to set you up with a new hobby ;)
On that note, I'm going to leave you with this Christmas tree artwork that I created last year on my rubbish bin iPad. I had no reference material, not much experience with Procreate, no plans of selling the art and just whipped it up quickly....
....and it was fun.
Happy holidays to you. May you have a joy-filled and blessed holiday season with plenty of time to do the things you want to with the people you love.
Lauren xx
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