BEING CREATIVE WITHOUT AN ARTISTIC STREAK
I mentioned in last week's post that I've been wanting to try my hand at activities that use the right
side of my brain. Apparently right brain dominant people are more creative
and artistic, and left brained people are more logical and analytical. If
that's
the case, I definitely tend to be more left brained and now I have more time on my
hands, I thought it was my chance to try my hand at something a little bit
"arty".....But where do you start when you've never dabbled in that
area?
The other problem I have is that I don't like to set myself up to fail. I
don't mind being a beginner, but I don't want to start something if I know
I'm going to be awful at it - my self esteem isn't strong enough to take a
deliberately targeted hit! So where does someone who sees themselves as
logical begin the process of becoming a little more creative?
TRYING A FEW DIFFERENT CREATIVE PROJECTS
Over the last decade I've played around on the edges of being more right
brained. My primary go-to is adult colouring in. I've loved colouring all my life,
and it always feels so lovely when all the colours come together in the
finished product. I don't have to design the picture, I just need to enjoy
giving it some life and colour. I've written about my colouring previously
and you can read about it
HERE
if you're interested.
The other big one for me was trying my hand at leadlighting (stained
glass). I took a two day course a few years ago and ended up taking on the
challenge of creating a stair railing for our house. I was super happy with
the results and wrote about it
HERE. The trouble with leadlighting is that it's quite expensive and also you
can only do so much before your house starts to look like a cathedral. So, I
stopped before I got too carried away.
FINDING A NEW CREATIVE PURSUIT
Over the last year or so, since accepting that I'm going to be retired and
have more time on my hands, I've been thinking about what creative pastimes
I'd like to try my hand at. I am under no illusions that I can draw or paint
- and I don't feel any desire to take classes to try to become a barely
average painter. I want to work with my strengths - which I think tie in to
colour and having an eye for proportion.
The first project I've taken on is learning to do some handlettering and
calligraphy. I like the structure and the fact that it is improving my
handwriting in the process. I'm becoming more proficient at the basics, but
have a fair way to go before I get all the twirls and swirls happening.
Still, it's been a fun activity for when I have half an hour here or there
to fill.
THE MOST FUN CREATIVE PASTIME OF ALL
I've left the best til last because over the last couple of months I've
discovered paper collage. It's such a fun thing to do. It fits my ability to
get sizes and shapes of randomly related pictures in proportion to create
something new and I think I'm actually quite good at it. I created the
picture at the beginning of the post and the ones below.
I realized when I took the photo that you can see the leadlight stair railings - so this pic is a two for one!
WHERE TO BEGIN IF YOU WANT TO COLLAGE
I've sourced a lot of the images from copyright free download sites like
Pixabay and the
free wallpaper downloads. I also found
a lovely site
with some images that I've played around with and they were a great
introduction to trying a different theme (see the pictures below). I choose random images that relate to my theme, print them, cut them out, move them around on the page (I bought a
pad of A4 watercolour paper from KMart - super cheap and a heavier weight to take the layers and the glue without tearing) and when I'm
happy with the result I pull it all apart and glue it back down again with
good old white glue - painted on with a paintbrush.
I love that it's virtually impossible to make a mistake - because the image
is in my head and it can change as I go along and add more to it. After I'd
put a few together I felt really proud of myself and my right brain felt
a little less atrophied. I've got lots of ideas to play around with, or I might
get tired of it and move onto something else, but it's been such a
surprisingly enjoyable pastime, and one that's given me the confidence to
keep stretching myself.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
Have you been keeping busy with new projects in retirement (or in lockdown
if you're stuck at home?) Any suggestions for other fun and creative things
to try my hand at? I'm actually thinking about tackling a bit of mosaic art
next - there are some gorgeous tiles out there that I'd like to get my hands
on.
RELATED POSTS
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