What did you like to play with when you were a child?
Did you enjoy coloring, painting, molding clay, or building with blocks?
As you grew, did you nurture your imagination…or did you let your creativity drift away as the years passed by? It would be understandable if you did. Our tendencies to be original or to think-outside-the-box can be reduced as we grow up and are taught to fit in and conform. What would it be like to let yourself play creatively again as you did when you were younger?
If you had the chance…what would you do? Would you dig in the sand or dirt, or splash in water? Would you build a fort out of blankets, shining a flashlight underneath its sagging walls and imagining that it’s your own private world?
I recently had the opportunity to explore my creative side by playing with acrylic paints at an evening program hosted by Wholistic Woman Retreats. I have an eye for color and design, but I certainly don’t consider myself to be an artist. There are many others who are more gifted than I am in that area and I am okay with that.
Before I went to the event, I gave some thought to what I would like to paint. In my mind’s eye I envisioned a tree in autumn. Inspired by the beautiful fall colors outdoors, I wanted to capture these images on the canvas. I thought a fall tree would be a perfect representation of the changes that were occurring in my own life. I was thinking how I wanted this painting to remind me that changes can offer beauty even in the midst of loss and necessary endings. After the leaves wither and fall to the ground, the tree trunk still stands strong with a certain serenity as it waits throughout the winter months for new growth to return in the spring. I wanted to be beautiful and strong like a tree.
I was optimistic that I would be able to paint the tree in my mind’s eye with guidance from artist Shari Grandstaff and life coach Laura Hall. Laura taught us how to set our expectations and encouraged us to give ourselves permission to release any creative blocks that existed.
I gave myself permission to have fun!
It had been a gray, rainy day and I was feeling a bit gloomy when I arrived. I wanted to shake off the shadows that were hanging around the edges of my heart and mind. I chose to be playful and enjoy this activity instead of striving to make it a ‘project’, which would inherently feel stressful to me. No one would be grading my painting…except possibly me… so I decided to set the bar low and adopted ‘just have fun’ as my mantra.
I dumped out the contents of my materials bag which contained a variety of tools; fat and thin brushes, a sponge, decals, modge-podge, and glitter. I listened to basic advice offered by Shari and decided to dive in. I began by using my sponge to make the background color yellow. My gray mood began to lift as soon as I applied the bright paint to the white canvas. When the canvas was completely covered with yellow paint, I turned my attention to creating a sunset sky as a backdrop for my tree. Our palette contained only primary colors, so I began mixing red and yellow to create the orange shades that I desired. I chose a brush to apply big strokes of orange on top of the yellow and felt myself smile as my whole arm swung back and forth applying the paint. I blended spots of red into the yellow and orange and gazed in wonder at the beautiful array of colors before me.
The transformation within me was even more impressive. My spirits lifted as I focused on nothing more than creating and applying colors. I heard other painters around me asking questions and giving each other advice, but I concentrated on my own creative experience. Although it was tempting to look at what others were doing, I didn’t want to lose my momentum.
Once the sky was a beautiful blend of sunset colors I decided to paint my tree trunk. At this point in the process I asked, and listened to, the advice of others on blending colors to make brown. As I began to swirl colors together on my palette I realized that it was more challenging than I thought it would be. Soon, however, I had a satisfactory shade for the trunk and began to apply it to the canvas. I changed the side-to-side strokes that I had used for the sky to vertical up-and-down strokes for the trunk. I must admit that I got carried away as I kept applying more and more color to capture the look that I wanted for the trunk. The base of the trunk grew massive and the upper branches spread out across the entire canvas. My tree took on a life of its own as I lost myself in the rhythmic painting. It felt both soothing and expressive as I applied layers of paint to the trunk.
Eventually I had to make myself stop painting because my idea of a slender tree was now long gone and in its place was a massive, old, tree. I took a break from painting the trunk to dab leaf colors throughout the branches. It was coming alive for me now. I added some fallen leaves around the base of the tree and noticed how the autumn scene I envisioned was emerging.
When I stepped back and surveyed my work I was slightly taken-aback by the contrast between the image that I had started with and what was now on the canvas before me. I shook my head with a smile and admitted to myself that I had gotten carried away with the sheer joy of applying paint to the canvas. I proceeded to ask Shari for advice about slimming my tree trunk and she helped me use modge-podge and pinks in the background sky to blend and narrow it.
Painters around me offered encouragement when I lamented about the size of my tree, telling me that it looked like a ‘Wise’ tree. I tilted my head to one side and decided that they were right.It wasn’t the tree I planned to paint….but it was a fine tree nonetheless. In fact, in some ways it was better than what I had originally imagined.
How often do other parts of my life turn out differently, yet perhaps better, than I imagined?
With childlike grace I tried not to judge what I had created. I released my original idea of what I wanted it to be and accepted it for what it was. As I did so I reminded myself to repeat this practice in other arenas of my life as well. It’s okay to begin with an idea in mind, but as I begin to create something new I need to be open to it becoming something different….maybe something better.
As the evening ended I carefully painted my theme words for the past three years into the leaves to remind myself of their wisdom and guidance. With that I called it done.
My painting now sits on my mantle at home and each time I gaze at it a smile comes to my face…I feel lighter and brighter and a warm glow of acceptance fills me. I know that it’s good enough…and so am I.
How do you want to play today?
Wonder and joy awaits you when you give yourself permission to be creative.
This article was written by Carol deLaski, a professional certified coach, speaker, author, and co-founder of Wholistic Woman Retreats. She specializes in strengths development for businesses and individuals. To contact her email [email protected].