Lately, I have been embarking on a creative journey. I have become enamoured with mixed media art. I have bought several books on the topic and now I am practicing the techniques. The process has been extremely joyful, meditative and at times frustrating. The process has allowed me to know myself better and to embrace authenticity. The process can also be very therapeutic. Ursula Leguin said,
“The creative adult is the child who survived.” ~ Ursula Leguin
Indeed, the creative process has innumerable benefits. My creative journey has been an interesting one. Each project has brought about several discoveries about myself and what I can gain from integrating more creativity into my life.
My first project involved transferring an image to paper, then drawing and colouring over the image.
My first two attempts at transferring the image left me in frustration and with two crumpled pieces of paper. The first image did not transfer well and the second image became a blurred mess. In this moment, I had to learn to exercise patience and seek more information about the best way to perform this technique. Deep breath. I sought out the ever so useful Youtube for this and realized I really did need to exercise a lot of patience as I had to let the image dry in the medium (the goo that absorbs the image ink on the paper) for several hours. After this, everything went smoothly and I could paint and colour to my heart’s content. By the way, I also learned how to paint a moon on Youtube. So for this project, I learned to exercise patience and seek resources when needed. When I proceeded to my next project, I had some valuable tools in my creativity arsenal.
My next project involved drawing a whimsical female face.
When I first created the above piece, I thought that her eyes were too large and that she looked like an alien. Patience. Deep breath. The picture including collage pieces, so I applied gesso (a substance that adds texture) to unify the layers. Except, I applied the gesso to the face. I had used water-soluable crayons and marker on the face, so elements began to smudge and blur. My knee-jerk reaction was to crumple up the paper and start again. I think I even got a little teary. But my significant other (who is a more tenured artist) whooshed in to save the day. He gave me useful tips on saving the image with acrylic paint. Once again, a lesson in patience arose. I took a breath, as I painstakingly restored the image.
Despite the several stumbles and setbacks, I found the creative process to be a wonderful learning experience. Further, the experience was overall, a positive one. I noticed that the journey of creativity had a direct impact on my mental state. While I was creating, I had more focused energy. Throughout the process, there were many instances where I went into a meditative state. One big lesson was that I could not always create what I envisioned. True creativity simply does not allow for that. This is okay. I learned to let things be and flow with whatever comes. What was left in the end was a sense of accomplishment and joy. The best part is that I learned so much about myself during the creative process, as I engaged in freely expressing myself and exercised my creative intelligence. As Albert Einstein said,
“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” ~ Albert Einstein
Creativitity is truly another form of intelligence. So, dive right in, to anything creative. Try anything that strikes your fancy. Whether it be sewing, jewelry making, painting, scrapbooking, drawing, and the list goes on and on. I am certain you have something in mind that suits you and the way in which you wish to express yourself. You won’t regret it. Forge on and create your own crazy unicorn!
