Creative Exercises to get my Juices Flowing

Everyday I go into my studio, I WILL myself to create.  To create what I *feel*.  Which is SO.HARD.TO DO.  (I may have mentioned it before.)  What does making what you *feel* EVEN MEAN?  I get so frustrated, trying to work it all out.  Fortunately for me and YOU (yay, you amazing reader ;)...) I have come by some techniques that have been helping me to get into the right frame of mind to create more freely.

Stream-of-consciousness journaling

Journal Cover I made for a standard $1 journal
you can find pretty easily at Target/Walmart/dollar store...
Click here for a tutorial to make your own.

I have actually been doing this for a few years now.  I learned about the process when I started reading The Artist's Way.  It was one of the few things I actually did from the book and it has been literally LIFE changing (journaling, that is - not the book.  I didn't finish reading the book).   I journal when I am depressed, sad, anxious, insecure.  And every single time, I feel MUCH better after I do it.  I rarely even read the entries later.   Sometimes when I recommend this to my friends and family, they express concern that a household member may read their private thoughts.   Well, in my opinion, it would still be beneficial if they burned the pages afterward!  Seriously, if I ask a question in my journaling and then be completely open for the answer, I swear, I will get an answer that seemingly comes from nowhere!  I love it.

Free-form dancing
This was actually recommended to me by Angelina, a creative consultant (that is what I call her).  I first met Angelina through my son's preschool.  She was his teacher.  And if you have watched a few of my vlogs, you know that I LOVE his preschool and his teachers!  I will talk about the reasons why in another post.  One of which includes the fact that Angelina is a child intuitive!! (something else she does not call herself - but it is true!).  She is able to observe your child for a short amount of time, and know exactly what he/she needs - and then tell you how to give it to him/her in a holistic way.  And apparently she can do the same for adults!  I had a telephone conversation with her about my artist journey and  it was AMAZING.  Anyway, she gave me a lot of great advice that day - one of which includes doing free-form, tribal-like dancing to clear your chakras. Her pinterest board has some really good videos on it.  

This one was mind blowing:



Did you know that we were ALL dancers?
Here is Angelina's facebook page  if you are interested in speaking with her yourself.


Sketching from a photo

Sketch from a photo used in an art journal entry.

This is one is one that I stumbled upon on my own. I am currently trying to teach myself how to draw and I am kinda obsessed with faces.  Usually, that is the last lesson in drawing books and I may be slightly impatient.  Also, I am kinda obsessed with drawing/painting women of African descent and finding a tutorial/lesson/drawing book that teaches how to draw those faces is pretty tough. Oh, and trying to find a lesson on how to draw our hair?  Forget about it.   So, I have been finding faces on the internet to practice drawing.  And it is an extremely satisfying activity.  I would love to take one of those sketching classes where you have a live model and sketch him/her.  Ahhh, some day ;).

That is all that I have so far.  I have heard of other inspirational tactics like looking at other artist's work, following a tutorial, or being with nature.  Unfortunately, those do not work for me.  When I look at other artist's work,  I get so CONSUMED with the artist and their work, I cannot hear my own inner artist...  When I follow tutorials, I am so determined to learning every single thing, I do not give myself permission to deviate from the lesson and so the activity never becomes self-expression.  And lastly, my main creative time is late at night, so I am not about to go outside on a nature walk...  especially since I don't live in the *best* area.  

Anyway, I am by no means a creative expert (YET! Ha!).  But these are just some things that I have discovered about myself and I wanted to share.  You're welcome ;).

Sooooooo, I would love to know: how do you stay creative?