So glad to be back writing and creating again. I had to take a little break from the “online” world to rethink my work, career, and life. This last 2 years have been a crazy roller coaster for everyone, myself included, having to heal from a physical accident has taken longer than I expected, both physically and mentally.
Health was a big issue, not just Covid-19, so I spent a lot of time getting fit (more on that later). Working on a new direction in my creative work has been so interesting. Freeing me to really play and plan what I really want to do and help me be confident to change directions, this is also part of improving my health and life.
It’s been a challenge, so I thought I would write about some things that helped me out of my slump and hope it can help you all in some way. So here are some tips for living a creative life style and getting it started.
The Garden
I love nature, flowers, plants-I use herbs and eat a lot of fresh vegetables so this was a great outlet for my time in a creative rut. Looking at garden books, catalogs, and websites offer a great amount of inspiration. Colors shapes of natural materials have always been influential in my creating. My boys always call me the “Stick Girl” since I have been using sticks, and branches in my decorating, and displays for years
Reading
I have been sorting and somewhat purging my personal library/book collection and it is surprising how different it is to use books for research and inspiration as opposed to looking at websites. Don’t get me wrong, the internet is full of information. But there’s something about a book, the paper feel, the smell, the slowness of just looking at a photo to study it, and the writing it just feels different.
Watching Old TV and New Videos
Being stuck in one location due to my leg injury, you really do use TV as a way to kind of “keep you company”. Since I really started design and art in the 1970’s, some of the old television shows from the 70’s and 80’s have given me a lot of ideas for using old and new together in art and decorative items. Also, watching YouTube videos, by so many interesting people is another great place to get out of a creative rut, anything from just beautiful images and design , to DIY how to’s, there is so much-just stay away form politics for your own sanity. Ha-Ha!
“Mary Tyler Moore” and “Rhoda”
“That Girl”
“MacMillian and Wife” Is San Francisco in the 1970’s
Trying New Things
Since I am no longer teaching children, I now have many different types of arts and crafts materials. Using all my old teaching plans, ideas and putting them to use for my work has been very liberating. Most of my work is in fabric, textile arts, quilting and fashion. Being stuck with limited mobility , drawing and some painting is what I have used to get back to “work”with this new direction in my career.
Physical Activity and Cooking
Most of my life I have been physically active to some degree and my diet tends to be fairly good nutritionally, but I do go back and forth with food. In the last couple of years with a lot of physical problems due to having polio as a child, I really had gotten heavy and sedentary. So getting back to exercise and healthy eating (I lost 30 Pounds), has been so helpful to feeling the creativity coming back. I will have another post about these topics in the future.
Studio Rework/Interior Design
Urban Outfitters Headquarters
One of the most enjoyable and freeing things for me is to work on my surroundings. We used a lot of the Covid lock down/free time to work on our home and garden. Many things are ongoing, it does take longer to complete project ideas since we do most of the work ourselves, but it is so rewarding and you can really make it your own. I will have many more post coming on all the projects in the future as well, and with the videos I am making.
What kind of ideas do you all use to get yourself back to creating? Let me know if you have any questions and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter below so we can keep up with how life is going.
