Whether you’re a student of art, a professional artist, or a creative dabbler, it’s important to step away from the confines of projects and end results once in a while (or even more often than that preferably). Giving yourself time to experiment, scribble, scratch, doodle— and otherwise mess around— can not only be fun and therapeutic, but it can also give way to creations and ideas that could inspire a future project. You never know just what you might find: an outlet, a new technique, or a wacky character that jumps off the page and steals your heart! Here’s the little one born of my scribbles this week… what do you think? Should this Scribbler have his own story?
What Will Your Scribbles Give Life To?
Take some time out this week to do something creative just for the sake of doing it! No means to an end. No agenda. No perfectionism. No erasing or un-doing even! Hide away from distractions and technology while you do it. Give it your full attention. Run wild with it! Take special notice of how you feel during the process— I’d love to hear about your experience and see what you end up with!
When you sit still with Nature, She starts to talk to you,
She comes alive in ways you never knew,
She asks you to see things like you never have before,
It’s magical what happens when you step outside your door…
“Dandylions”
For those of us lucky enough to have wild access to Mother Nature, remember to visit and cherish Her. Sit with Her. For anyone who doesn’t, don’t fret. You can find Her in your mind, in the sky outside your window, in the plant in the corner, in that beautifully shot documentary, in a pet or song bird, in the depths of your soul… She’s all around, holding us with grace and inspiration. We are Her.
If you’ve found even a bit more stress or disruption in your life than usual lately, you likely already know that you aren’t alone. Yes, the world is being impacted by COVID-19 in countless ways and I’m not here to talk about it. What I do want to discuss are the little things we can do to find peace, inspiration, grounding, and even joy when we find ourselves amidst chaotic, uncertain or confusing times— for whatever reason.
Yesterday I chose the simple act of taking a long, leisurely walk at the oceanside with a good friend. The sun was shining so brightly it sparkled on the water like a disco ball, while a seal popped his head up next to us and an eagle soared overhead. The wind was blowing the waves into a synchronized dance and scuba divers reminded us of the mysterious world that lay beneath them. The land felt at peace and, for a few hours, everything felt normal again. We couldn’t help but feel our interconnectedness with nature, the sense of how infinitesimal we humans are, and how much peace can be found by just stepping away. Away from the house. Away from the hustle and bustle. Away from routine. Away from social media and news. Away in whatever form of awayness is needed for you at any given time. By the time we left, I for one was feeling free of life’s problems, safe, in control, and enlivened— things I hadn’t felt much of all week.
Odgen Point, Victoria B.C.
When I later sat down to work on today’s artwork and blog, I could still see those beachy views in my mind’s eye: the grassy mounds in the foreground framed by stunning mountaintops and blue skies far beyond. While I had many illustrations that I “should/could” have been working on for my various projects, something from this vivid landscape was still speaking to me: whispering to the needs of my soul for further peace, freedom and trust. I knew there was a creature hiding behind the whisper but I couldn’t see her yet. But still, there she was encouraging me to gently put aside any additional pressure amidst an already stressful time; to “go with the flow” and create something just for the joy of it. I pulled out my oil pastels, a medium I rarely work in nowadays but one that I relate to a time in my younger days when I would draw for the sheer love of it, without (as much) concern for the end goal.
Finding Freedom with Oil Pastels
I knew this medium would help set me up for this “therapeutic art” session. And it worked. Instead of first sketching and perfecting the outlines of an image, I drew with the pastels directly onto the paper, trusting the permanence of the lines as I laid them down. I let it happen. I didn’t fight anything yet I felt in control. I limited expectations. I mixed colours. I smeared the oily pigments with my bare fingertips. And this is what came out— a creature seemingly born from those grassy cliffs of Ogden Point in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia. I still plan on adding in that mountain crested background another day, but for now, this Peaceful Breezer sleeps in the caress of the sun without a worry in mind. She reminds me, and anyone else who wishes to take her lead, that stepping away to enjoy life’s simplicities, trusting the flow, and letting the breeze tousle your hair can sometimes be the best thing we can do for ourselves to come back to our centre. That and turning our fingertips green with creative delight…
The Peaceful Breezer
So let your freedom flow like the wind and allow yourself to connect to those small things that make you feel as I did, hugged between ocean and eagle, in the shimmering sunlight.
Be well everyone.
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Hey everyone, I’d like you to meet the Self-Love Serpent. Self-Love Serpent, I’d like you to meet the people on the other end of the internets.
This little sweetheart has been a lesson in the making for a few different reasons, which I’d like to tell you about, but first she requires an intro. This slithering slinky is part of a project I recently started called “The Self-Love Deck for Monsters”. “The WHAT?” you ask. Think Tarot Deck, but the inspirational kind instead of traditional Tarot, and where each card features a creature with a hint of wisdom concerning self-love. Within the categories of the deck are the elemental sub-categories fire, water, air, earth, and ether. The card I sat down to work on about a month ago was “Self-Love” itself in the air element. What I first envisioned was something fuzzy and cute, swimming and swooping elegantly through the air, smiling, with a radiant heart.
What came out on paper, though, was somewhat of an unlikely candidate for the job. I was thinking of something like the flying dog from “The Neverending Story” movie, yet what materialized was…a snake? Now there’s nothing wrong with snakes, but they don’t exactly elicit a warm and fuzzy feeling for me, personally. While I don’t always have control over what my pencil does, I’m learning to trust it, so I went with it. In the end, I loved her. She was sweet, interesting, and could wrap her sleek figure around herself in a warm embrace until she had tied herself in knots of love. Her two tails, for me, represented both giving love as well as receiving it (which I’ve come to learn are two very different practices). Her scales would symbolize the multitude of aspects of herself, each which she had learned to love unconditionally. Hence was born the Self-Love Serpent. I couldn’t have planned her this well. Lesson one— trust yourself and your pencil, as strange as either’s guidance may seem at the time.
Okay, so I’m not used to drawing creatures that can pretzelize themselves, and after drawing her and falling for her, I realized (due to the feedback from a close artist friend) that I’d drawn her without much thought and her anatomy made no sense. Her twists and turns didn’t work, her spine was impossible, and her “spikes” were pointing the wrong direction on her tails… in short, she was an anatomical mess. DOH! I so liked how her lines worked as she was! But being the perfectionist that I am, I took to figuring out the puzzle of her serpentine bodice. Well, she became a gruelling group effort involving that same friend, my family and my boyfriend. We became Team-Serpent as I drew, erased, redrew her lines, until finally we got her straightened—or not so straightened— out (thanks team!). Much better! And I needed only to misplace a bit of my sanity and a few too many sleeping hours in the process… ahem. Lesson two— it’s okay to make mistakes, get feedback, and ask for help! Even (especially?) if you have to hear something you don’t like in the process.
Playing with Style and Medium
Finally, when her lead outlines were exacted in a way that filled me with delight, as interesting lines on paper do, she was ready to paint. This became a whole other undertaking. You’d think I’d never painted before, but I’d just locked down hard on “solidifying my style” and thus was putting a lot of importance on this painting. I’ve been using gouache for a number of years now but when I consulted the aforementioned friend, she informed me that I was using the wrong medium for the style I was trying to achieve. Back I went to watercolour; a medium I’d first started using for my illustrations a decade earlier, and realized it did work better for my desired results! My homework was to play around with painting, doing so more freely and sloppily and even more outside of the lines (sorry Granny!). As someone who despises redoing things, this was tough for me, but I decided to paint multiple versions of the same picture, each as quickly as I could, to practise (see image above). Well, voila, I am getting closer and closer to what I want with my medium, style and speed of painting. Yeah yeah, practise makes perfect, right? But seriously, the slogan warrants some credit. Lesson three— don’t be afraid to break the mould, try something new, and step out of your comfort zones. You never know where it will bring you.
In the end, here she floats in all her grace: The Self-Love Serpent. And along with all her bizarreness, frustrations and imperfections, she loves herself completely— and she inspires me to do the same!
“The Self-Love Serpent”
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You know those times, when you’re walking through the Swamps of Lifeasyouknowit and you stub your toe, fly off the path, and land face first in the muck? It’s tarry and tacky and the more you fight it the stronger it holds, until you give in and lie limp, staring at the skies as Gremgirts drop gremdrops into your eyes. Suddenly a week or two has gone by when suddenly you realize that you’ve been stewing there long enough and you really ought to do something about it. So you start thrashing about, crying out, and trying to absorb wisdom from all but the roots of the nearby Trubbatrub Trees— seeking for any ounce of an inkling as to how you might set yourself free. You know, those times. Well that’s where I spent my last few weeks. It happens to me as it can happen to any ol’ monster.
The Mud Monster
Sometimes when you’re in the thick of it, or in the muck of it rather, it’s hard to see the way out, or you’re too busy thrashing to see the lifeline that’s landed next to you. But when you give into it, you’ll often find that the answer was there all along: just sit yourself up, wipe yourself off, give yourself a pat on the back and continue on. No harm done, hopefully, except for maybe the need of a shower, and most importantly— a new map!
Now I’ll be frank, it’s been a tough month for this here monster. I started off uber excited, motivated and inspired about my creative business, art, and this blog. Then I got all serious-perfectionist-ninja and pushed myself too hard, ran myself down, stressed myself into to the state of a monster-sized mud puddle, and lost sight of the whole point— to have and inspire more FUN! So yeah, I got caught in the muck but the process of removing myself from it has brought some clarity and the ensuing necessary redirection of my business and projects. The process being:
Pause: stop what you’re doing, breathe deeply, and have self-compassion for your challenge
Accept: that the struggle is part of the process of learning and growing, no matter how frustrating it may be
Reflect: on what’s going on and what you could do differently
Redirect: your plan, approach, or thoughts accordingly
And this applies to challenges in everyday life as much as to blockages you run into whilst pursuing creative endeavours or goals. I’m even testing it out on negative thought patterns, anxiety, frustration, or the ghastly “P Word”— perfectionism.
So anyway, the thing I’m redirecting today is this blog. It will now focus more on a behind-the-scenes of my Monster Studio than the original “Monsterly Self-Help” idea. That project is planned for a later date. This plan will help me concentrate on the essence of what Art of Nonsense is all about— creativity, play and joy! So what will this new blog look like? Same name, different tagline (coming soon). The sharing of sketches, art, poems, stories, project updates, sneak peaks, my process, ideas, thoughts, topics of interest, challenges, celebrations, inspiration and of course… MONSTERS! My posts will still feature tid-bits about self-love and self-discovery/improvement along the way, because those themes are interwoven in my work, my values, and arguably in any creative project or endeavour (perhaps a topic for another post?). So here I am, somewhat sparkling and clean, with a new intention to share with you my creative journey and hopefully inspire yours along the way. Here’s to us; may we unleash our inner creative creatures— hurrah!
P.S. If you have a project, goal, or challenge that has been giving you grief, can you approach it in a fresh way or different angle? New perspective can sometimes move mountains— even if it’s simple taking a walk down a new route or through nature. Just watch out for mud puddles and Gremgirts…!
Play. Create. Discover... 