22 Nov Your Body Knows

Do you feel anxious/angry/unsettled/restless/uncertain/emotional?

Have you tried creating lately?

Much like exercising…when you haven’t created in a while, your body knows. You feel it in your bones.

This was my final metric, the barometer, of which I could unquestionably tell if I needed painting in my life. My body knew.

Early on in my return to art, my husband used to say, if I seemed low, how’s your art making going? He knew too. He knew that if I was able to get to my sketchbook for a few minutes every day, I was a happier person.

I think this is why when I returned to a regular art practice after 13 years,  I was prolific…paintings pouring out of me, relentlessly, as if my life depended on it. And I’ve come to realize that it did. This was in the cards for me…this life of creativity…it never couldn’t be. It just took a different form for a while, in pursuing theatre.

Now that my creating has become my job, there is a fair amount of time spent in front of the computer, running my website and filling orders. I know that I must schedule my studio/painting time and get in there daily, even if just for 15 minutes, to commune with the work…touch my supplies, take in the colors, free form draw. Anything to shake out the energy and keep that creative muscle working.

Painting is my outlet to shake out this excess energy. We all know the term “creative outlet”. Well, when we create, we are plugging into this metaphorical outlet and allowing the energy to flow through us.

And if we’re lucky, we become a channel to the divine.

p.s. If you need some help returning to your art, I’m creating a digital course for you. I will help you find the space, time, and energy to create and build an art practice that is life giving! If you’re interested, click here for more info.