Both are my great creative loves.
I’ve had periods where I burn for one of them, and I’ve had long periods of rest from them too. These are often caused by some block, a limitation that creates a can’t-do mentality.
I hope you aren’t afflicted by this, but if you are there is a way to turn it break through it.
One way I’ve found to turn this around into a can-do mentality by making things easier. Easier to create, easier to pick up a needle or a brush, easier to enjoy.
As a creative, you know, sometimes ideas flag a bit, but it’s best to keep working anyways, with whatever little bits of inspiration you come on and without worry about the result.
This showing up makes the difference in the long run and in the short run, you still get the feeling of creating. It’s a step to new things.
This is where working in another medium can fill the gap and get your creative juices running again.
The beauty of this is that you can turn to your own work for inspiration.
Recently for me, it’s been my embroidery that’s been inspiring my painting.
Let me show you how I play these two art forms off each other.
Little birds
If you’re familiar with my embroidery, you know I’ve done a variety of little birds, some totally stylized and other semi-realistic. I like to play with color, so they often end up very stylized.
These two are a little sample.
Elephants
I loved this little elephant so much and thought it was perfect for an embroidery.
Since the first embroidery, it’s quite a few times in my painting. Such fun little guys!
Cardinals
The idea for this came from a pencil sketch I did. Actually it sat around for a year before I finally got around to doing something with the idea.
The cardinal became the subject for a couple of embroidery projects which were fun to do.
Then a couple years later came the paintings.
Ladybug on a leaf
I originally made this design as a simple color pencil drawing as a prelude to an embroidery. I rarely do that. Some people love doing colored pencil studies before stitching. Not me. I jump right in!
I very recently turned it into a fun, little painting. I really enjoyed this, and I am not done with this theme either. It will go on in other forms.
Owls
The owl originally made its appearance in my stitching as a cross stitch design.
Then later came an embroidery version in several forms. The latest being an ornament that I had been thinking about for a long time. This is a favorite of mine now.
And this owl came flying into my painting too. This little guys sits in the trees at night, just like the owl that lives in one of the big bird house boxes here on the property. I have a feeling this is only the beginning for this guy.
These are my creative passions and obsessions. Or at least two of them, I have more!
What are yours?
Whatever they are, let them burn in you. Give them more air to burn even brighter.
If you have more than one, you can let the lines between them blur. Let your creativity guide the mixing.
Here is where the magic starts to happen because when you integrate these parts of yourself, you stand out and are truly unique.
And hopefully, along the way, you will find your can-do mindset where the limitations and rules no longer matter, and you are free to create.