renewal

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be an Artist when I grew up. I loved to draw, to color, to paint, and to make up stories. My Dad was a sketch artist for the local police department, and my Mom always loved to do crafts, doodle, and design, too. So, I came by this creative spark naturally.

However, when I was in grade eleven, I took an independent learning course in Graphic Design. And when I handed in a particular drawing project, my teacher sent it back with the comment that I “draw like a 2-year-old“. Being insecure enough already, I took that comment to heart, and I let it squash all of my dreams of pursuing a career in the arts.

I went on to take Office Administration in college, then got married and had kids, very shortly thereafter. As such, my art got pushed mostly into the background. I still liked to doodle, but it was no longer my focus (my kids filled that role).

Around 2015, with my kids getting older — both in their teens — I started finding more time for myself, and I decided I should start seeking out others who also love to be creative.

I ended up seeing a flyer at the local library, advertising an upcoming Art Journaling class for women, and I decided that’d be a good place to start. So, I signed up.

At first, I’d thought it was going to only be the one class — a 2-hour gathering. As it turned out, however, the class was once-a-month for the entire year!

My creativity was going to be renewed!

Through that Art Journaling class, I discovered that I love sitting down to be creative — painting, drawing, doodling … even Zentangling! I can lose myself for hours in my creative messes.

Each month in the class, we had a “theme” word — for example, Magical, Courage, Imagine…

I really enjoyed that class, and loved getting to know the artsy ladies in the group, as well. I even got invited, by one of them, to go speak on creativity to her quilter’s group! So fun!

I would love to know . . .

DO YOU MAKE TIME FOR YOUR CREATIVITY? HOW SO? WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MEDIUM, SO FAR?