Anyone can be creative! Seriously!
Updated: Feb 8, 2021
I know so many who say "I am not creative; there is no way I could do that!". The truth is that everyone has creative skills. Yes, some have it oozing from their pores, while for others, it needs to be cultivated. However, it is not beyond anyone's ability to be creative.
My grandpa was a motor mechanic until he retired, yet one day strolling around a craft expo he took a fancy to the idea of wood turning. What started out as a small lathe in the garage, became a bigger lathe, a small business and a new zest for life until a few weeks before his death aged 83.
Creativity is not just "the arts". To those of you who have bought ras el hanout to experiment with the flavours of Morocco, or those brave souls who have tried home hair bleaching during lockdown, that is being creative! Fair enough, if you are speaking strictly about "art" creativity, then some might not classify food and blond hair as art. Yet, I still maintain that anyone can learn to be creative with art supplies.
Here is my "How To":
Shush your left brain. Your left brain tells you that "trees are brown and green" and that the "sky is blue and clouds are white". Your left brain is already fighting with you saying, "but trees are brown and green!" (It is, isn't it?) Once you learn to shush your left brain and let that very open and creative right brain have the monopoly for a while, you will be blown away by what you can accomplish.
Get excited about art and/or craft. Everybody likes something. Make your use of social media spark your interest. Do you like the idea of scrapbooking but think you will be rubbish? Follow a few who do it, and get inspired. Always wanted to paint watercolour flowers but convinced it will look stupid? Follow someone! Just regularly seeing art inspires creativity.
Decide what you want to try. Like any skill, practice is important. Pick something to focus on for a time. Once your basic skill grows, your confidence will grow and thereby push you forward to explore other media or styles.
SHUSH YOUR LEFT BRAIN!
These are the beginning steps to "getting your creative on". In my next post I will go into more detail about these steps and give some suggestions of great tutorials and resources to help feed your creative self!
Until next time...