Art is thought provoking in so many ways. Not just in the obvious way of a Tracey Emin installation or Duchamp’s “Fountain” but in subtler more personal ways too.
It’s like music in its otherness to provoke reactions and feelings within us. It resounds with us in a different way from everyday things. It shines a light on our current self, if we have time to notice. Few subjects grant us such agency to express ourselves like art.
My measure of happiness is how much time I spend immersing myself in and creating art. There were times in my life where I didn’t put pencil to paper for years and looking back I can see clearly why. It was symptomatic of my lifestyle at the time and where my energy was being taken rather than where I was choosing for it to go.
When I carved out time to begin looking after myself and setting my life up differently in a conscious way then creativity came flooding back. I needed to plot my path rather than let others tread it for me to follow.
Rich & I held a free art event @Babylon Eco this week. We met some really great and interesting people and I learnt so much from displaying my work in a public place and inviting strangers to sit and pick up a paint brush.
Adults were anxious to join us unless accompanied by kids. It’s almost as if we give ourself permission to be creative for the child’s sake. So many adults looked interested in the activities but couldn’t make the move to sit down and engage. They judged themselves openly with disparaging remarks and blocks. Most of the kids hadn’t developed this negativity yet! It was as if many of the adults were scared of trying after so long of not using that creative side of the brain. They had lost something they believed could never come back, left behind with their younger self.
The adults with children had been reminded by their kids to revisit the joy of creativity. Their kids lost focus before them! In the end the kids were dragging the adults home😆.
It confirmed what I know in myself but it has taken me a long time to really know; that creativity must be held onto through thick and thin for the joy and relaxation it can bring. We shouldn’t leave it behind with our youth when life gets in the way. Fight for it, respect it, practice it in any way you enjoy. It’s not an indulgence, it’s a life enhancer. Help our children to understand this too and they’ll always benefit from the gift of that knowledge.
If you spend creative time with your child both of you will reap the benefits but I believe, as important as this is that you’re making creative time for yourself as an adult too. With the scientifically proven health benefits of creativity well documented we have all the reasons we need to include a time making art in our calendars.
Soon we are publishing dates for parent & toddler classes as well as teen classes. As crucial as painting and drawing skills we will be teaching the kids to understand the holistic importance of art and the importance of never letting that go for a healthier, happier life.
It can be very difficult for many adults to reconnect with lost creativity by understanding this hopefully our next generation will never need to navigate a reconnection as creativity will have been taught as an integral and indelible part of their nature.
My Mum was in touch with her creative side all of her life. She enjoyed drawing and making clothes mostly.
At the end of her life, at 85 she had dementia. We sat down together still and she would enjoy and remember how to draw. There is an otherness to creativity that stands outside of everything. I passionately believe that we have underestimated its importance for far too long now.
WhatsApp Rich or I on 07857 002187 for info on child or adult classes.
More info on “Pink Jesus” @coopersfield_space
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