creativity update

It's really striking how much difference fifteen minutes a day makes toward making me feel like a musician again. Even just this little bit is really limbering me up on all my instruments. (Of course I sometimes play longer, if I want to.) I don't know what else to say about this. I don't want to push it. I'll keep up this practice and see what happens (with songwriting, for instance). But just to, you know, prime the pump, I really recommend this little-bit-daily approach to anyone who feels blocked or overwhelmed; I bet it can be adapted to any medium at all. (Kara's daily practice with clay, which helped to inspire me in the first place, is the best example of the wide applicability of daily practice across mediums, I think.)

The Sunday Scribblings have been helpful in getting me to produce something every week. I don't consider myself a writer, but I love to write, and I'm willing to pursue any available avenue to creative expression that even slightly appeals to me at the moment. And goodness gracious - reading the other writers' scribbles is so inspiring! I'm a bit restricted financially just now, so I dare not even look at listings of painting classes and such. I guess Sunday Scribblings is like attending a free writing group, or something. One that tolerates any level of ability, effort and commitment. What a treat!

I used this week's S.S. prompt to take advantage of Kat's Contagious Creativity suggestion (from last week) to give myself permission to create crap. I hope to go with that approach every Sunday if I can, even if I end up doing something I'm proud of sometimes. I don't want to lose the sense of freedom I've been granting myself to just do something, without regard for quality. It's helping. A lot.

Yesterday I thumbed through a book I picked up a few years ago and have ignored since, an encyclopedia of craft projects that can be completed in a day. Most of the patterns and such in the book are really corny, but I think I could make some very cool stuff using the instructions. I've got a few wedding gift situations to deal with this summer and not a lot of disposable cash, so I'm particularly excited to try some things: glass painting, pottery painting, mosaics (good for picture frames or mirrors)... the raw materials are fairly affordable, and I LOVE to make things. In fact, it occured to me that I could customize myself a whole set of dishes this way, if I can find dishwasher- and food-safe paints. We've never bothered to buy a nice set of dishes. I'm not crazy about matching sets of things. But with a cheap set of plain glass or ceramic pieces, I could go nuts making something really special - a set of dishes that match each other in their basic construction but that are also unique and individual, different from each other and from any other set of dishes anywhere. I love folk art and simple designs. So why pay more for somebody else's creations? I seriously can't wait to get started.

So tomorrow, I have an artist date planned. I'm heading over to a Michael's craft store. I'm actually giddy about all this!