Savoring Simple Pleasures and Embracing Creative Play
When I first stepped into my studio this morning, frost glittered on the deck out the sliding doors, the light pale as the sun cleared the tops of the trees on the hill behind our house. Even with the snow still melting from Wednesday’s storm, it feels more like spring than winter. This morning, again, I heard a robin. I haven’t seen one yet, but I’ve been hearing them.
In the spring, as the earth wakes, I wake, too.
The world continues to get crazier and crazier. It’s an anxious and uncertain and emotional time. I think the only way we can get through these days is by nurturing our hearts and fully leaning in to what we love.
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
— Albert Einstein
Life is short. I don’t want to waste my days. I can’t afford to spend my time anxious and uncertain.
It’s not easy, but I’m working on it.
For me this means slowing down. It means getting quiet and savoring the simplest of pleasures. The taste of the first sip of morning coffee, the delight of watching a homemade pita puff in the oven, the anticipation of spotting the first robin of the season.
It means giving myself grace on days when I’m grumpy or frustrated or despairing.
And it means making things and embracing creative play.
Here’s a bit of what that’s looked like lately:
Portrait Experiments
You’ve seen glimpses of this experiment here on my blog in January and in my Joy Letter in January and again last week.
When I started sketching these little portraits, I didn’t have an end goal in mind. I still don’t. I’m not even sure why I sketched the first one. I don’t think I planned to sketch so many. I know I wanted to tackle an artistic subject I was uncomfortable with, but other than that I didn’t have much of a plan.
It’s been so much fun to watch these faces take shape. And it’s been very freeing to work without putting any pressure on myself. I’d like to sketch a girl a day, but if it doesn’t happen, that’s ok, too. I spend a lot of time just looking at these little pieces all lined up (and arranging and rearranging them on the closet door in my studio). Sometimes I’ll take someone down and work on her a little more and I’ve been slowly coming back and adding backgrounds, too.
I haven’t been this inspired or excited about a project for a long time.
Abstract Paintings
You’ve seen my small abstracts here on my blog, in the JoyLetter and also in my YouTube videos. I’ve been making them on and off for a couple of years. I paint them when I feel like it, often when I want to create something but am feeling uninspired. Many of them were painted in my sketchbooks, but I also have stacks of them painted on loose papers.
Here are some of the most recent:
I first started painting acrylic abstracts on paper and taping the edges after taking a class from Denise Love. In her class she adds mixed media details on top of the paint, but I’ve found that I like the pieces I’ve made without the extra details much better.
Something else I’ve noticed is that almost every time I paint a batch of abstracts, initially, I don’t like them. But that never matters much to me. It’s the process of creating something that’s important. After letting them sit for a day or so, my feelings change and often I come to love them.
Sketchbooks
You probably already know I love sketchbooks (there’s even a tab at the top of my website for them!). But if I’m honest, my energy and inspiration for working in sketchbooks have been at an ebb for a while. Ebbs and flows are a natural part of creativity. But I’ve missed feeling excited to pull out my sketchbooks.
Sometimes all it takes is a few minutes and a bit of leftover paint and I’m reminded of how much I enjoy playing in my sketchbooks.
Other times I get so engrossed that hours go by.
My sketchbooks and my creativity are always there waiting. I can come back any time.
Library Books
I have stacks of library books in various rooms throughout the house. Cookbooks piled up on the dining room table. Art, craft and garden books in my studio. Decorating books in the living room. Fiction, memoirs and longer-form non-fiction in the bedroom.
Books inspire me, educate me and allow me to escape reality.
Here are some I’m enjoying right now:
Mirrors in the Earth: Reflections on Self Healing from the Living World by Asia Suler
Some Writer: the Story of E.B. White by Melissa Sweet
The New York Times Cooking Easy Weeknight Dinners by Emily Weinstein
The Weekday Vegetarians Get Simple by Jenny Rosenstrach
Country Living Farmhouse Style by Caroline McKenzie
Bohemian Modern by Emily Henson
Feels Like Home: Transforming Your Space from Uninspiring to Uniquely Yours by Marian Parsons
Leaf Supply: a Guide to Keeping Happy Housplants by Lauren Camilleri and Sophia Kaplan
Sweet Home Macrame: a Beginner’s Guide to Macrame by Casey Alberti
I’d love to know what books you’ve been enjoying lately.
Macrame
Did you notice that last book? Did you see me mention macrame on Substack last month?
I’d wanted to try it for years. When I finally did, I found it easier than I thought it would be.
So far I’ve made three plant hangers and hope to make more.
Creating something simply out of knots in string is magic.
(But I don’t think Clara’s convinced she likes macrame. She’d rather have me join her in the living room and cuddle. Or fill her Kong with peanut butter).
Crochet
Making something with yarn and a hook is magical, too.
It had been a long time since I’d crocheted anything. I have yarn for a few projects but haven’t had the focus for reading complicated patterns. I decided I needed something simple to get back in the groove. A blanket for our new couch would be perfect!
My first two attempts at improvising a quilt-inspired, join-as-you-go throw weren’t turning out as I imagined, so after ripping out one and then another, I changed gears.
These chevrons have been easy and satisfying.
Sometimes simplest is best.
A few more bits of inspiration:
Sonia Brittain talks about how her preferences around abstract art have changed over the years.
Helen Wells reminds us of the importance of noticing and pursuing joy.
And Tara Weaver shares some words of encouragement in case you’re struggling.
I know these days are hard and each of us has personal struggles in addition to the global worries.
But every day is filled with beauties. The glitter of frost. The song of a robin. And each day we can choose to pick up a paintbrush or a ball of yarn and create some beauty, too.