The joy of gentle creativity
The joy of gentle creativity
Creativity doesn’t have to be painting masterpieces, for me it is all about how something makes you feel. Whether that’s creating a colour palette that fills you with joy, arranging flowers, putting on a jazzy outfit, learning something new or simply noticing a beautiful colour combination outside on a walk. Creativity is all about the process and sometimes it’s hard to know where to start, with that in mind in as we ease in to January and a new year I will be practicing more gentle creativity with no expectation but to enjoy the process, its something I’ve been doing over these days between christmas and new year and has helped to remind me how important slowing down and having fun exploring and experimenting is.
So I thought I’d share some creative gentle ideas that can be enjoyed in a quick half an hour between other plans or take up days on end as you get lost of the creative process….
Colour Swatching
There is so much magic to be found in creating colours. You don’t need a big selection of paints either, the whole point is to enjoy the process of mixing and making new colours from what you have. It’s an exercise I work through in lots of my painting workshops and one that everyone always gets totally lost in as I did yesterday afternoon creating over 100 mixed colour swatches! And as much as they are gorgeous to just look at they can also come in useful for helping to plan colour schemes, nature journal or as a starting point for another creative project. Just make sure you note down how you made the colour on the back of each one, I use a number format so number my paint palette 1-12 and then on the back of the swatch it might say 1+5 which indicates I mixed the White (number 1) with pink (number 5).
Mark Making & Collage
Again this gentle task of making marks on the page and cutting shapes is a fun way to embrace colour, pattern and shapes with no expectation or rights & wrongs. Simply take some paper and whatever materials you have, this could be paints, pens, chalks or even pack of felt tips and just explore making marks on the page. If that feels overwhelming then begin with dots and stripes and explore the spacing between your patterns on the page. Once you have a few sheets of mark making you can begin to cut shapes and explore placing them together to create compositions. I also have an envelope full of mark making sheets so don’t feel like you have to create something from them, sometimes they are just fun to make and keep for when you need some inspiration!
A Creative Space
Creativity can come in many forms and it doesn’t mean you always have to end up with a ‘finished piece’. For me my home is a place I like to reflect the season and my creativity, I’ll often take half an hour to arrange a shelf, side or table in my house, pottering around moving bits from one shelf to another and always thinking about bringing nature into the house. Even the simple task of foraging some greenery for a vase in your home and arranging it can be a joyful creative half an hour.
More gentle creative ideas
Heading outside for a walk and capturing something that inspires you
Moodboarding, creating a board for the month ahead with words and images that bring you joy or inspiration
Something I’ve shared with nature journaling group is to find a sitting spot (this can be outside or as simple as a space in your garden). Find somewhere to return to every week or perhaps once a month and watch how nature changes in that space, take pictures or write down what you see, it lovely to look back on how the seasons change in your space.
