art junk girl

Art Junk Serenity Prayer~

God grant me the serenity
to accept the fact that I can't make every room in this house a craft room:
Give me courage to clean the studio I have;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Love, Artjunkgirl

You don't have time to NOT be creative....

Huh? What am I talking about? This is something I hear over and over:

"I want to do creative things too, but I don't have time."

Well, guess what I say? You don't have time to NOT be creative. Creativity is all around you. You CAN fit it in. You can live a creative life as much or as little as you want to. No one is stopping you but yourself. Being creative has So many physical, mental and emotional benefits that you don't have time NOT to do it! Here are some suggestions for fitting in creativity with a busy schedule.

1. I take pics with my cell phone when I can't lug my camera with me. What do I take pictures of? WEll, it's all about how you think. When you think of life as a creative experience, everything ordinary becomes interesting all of the sudden! Try it, you'll see. Some of you know what I'm talking about! Don't worry about taking "bad" photos. Sometimes they turn out blurry, but so what? Even that can help you see things in a whole new way. I have blurry car photos...like the following...

On that note, you can do a picture a day with your cellphone. There are many 365 photo projects online, as well as flickr groups where you can share these. It's fun to do a mosaic of the month's events as well.

2. Always have something to read in the car. I always carry a great magazine in the car for some quick inspiration/eye candy. My favorites are Cloth, Paper, Scissors and the Somerset Studio's Gallery Magazines. It's like your own little art gallery in the car! If you don't want to spend money on the magazines, there are tons of great mixed-media, art, collage, photography books at your library. I use the library ALOT. It's a great "re-treat" for me to dash into the library and get some new books to soak in while waiting in the car!


3. Go outside. That's it. Walk around the block. Look at the clouds. Look at things you don't normally notice. A great book for those of you that would like to learn how to see the extraordinary in the ordinary is, "How to be an Explorer of the World" by Keri Smith. This is a great book for children as well. My daughters have both done the "field research" suggested in the book.

4. Keep a little memo book and pencil/pen in your purse/car, etc. You never know when you'll have a moment to sketch. I love sketching! It really get's me to relax and slow down. Here are a few sketches from my "sketch-while-I-wait" notepad I keep in my purse.

Ok, so those are only a few things you can do today! Remember, you don't have time to NOT be creative. Every day is a new opportunity to nurture your creative self. take care friends! ~Lia