You don’t have to consider yourself ‘creative’ to feel the loss of your creative connection. We are all innately creative. As Picasso possibly, but definitely should have, said “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up”.
No one warned me about crits (no, not a kind of lice infestation). Up until college art had been my go-to mode of self expression. Art - drawing, painting and making stuff - was something which came from the heart and I believed it would be my life. Problem was, I wasn’t prepared for the cutting approach to critiquing art - aka crits - one could expect at college.
Torn to Shreds
Looking back I realise I definitely needed to shape up my artistic act, yet I was extremely fragile and the approach unnecessarily harsh. Having felt like a fish out of water at school I’d escaped to what I assumed would be the embracing arms of creative life, only to find myself flapping around there too. My biggest problem, it seemed, was my eye for beauty. Beauty was out.
“While I was all absorbed in myths, fairytales and Hitchcock glamour, my art tutors were into lard as a medium and tampons as dresses.”
I didn’t get it. One tutor told me I shouldn’t admire certain artists, advising that I look to his preferred artists instead - art I couldn’t relate to at all. While another took a rather brutal approach to our tutorials tearing work to shreds - sometimes literally.
My Art Was Pointless
Being a creative-type, for want of a better phrase, was pretty much my identity, so when my capabilities and inspirations came into question my already delicate sense of self was crushed.
“I believed that the art I was producing was all style and no substance. In other words: Pointless. It broke my heart. So I stopped making art.”
Cue Helen the wilderness years.
Losing Our Creative Connection
For most of us becoming disconnected from our creative natures might not be so profound or dramatic. The unfettered approach to making stuff, imagining things and asking questions we enjoyed as children often simply gives way to self consciousness and what my mother has long dismissed - with an eye roll - as ‘thinking too much’.
“The thing is, being truly creative requires us to let go of our egos and essentially ‘reclaim’ our childish approach to creativity.”
That means: making the mess, letting our minds wander, and asking what might feel like obvious questions. Which is exactly what I’ve been endeavouring to do for the last few years through my creative sketchbooks, collage work, and exhibitions with my art group SEVEN.
Reclaiming Your Creativity
So, how should you reclaim your creative self? Well, reconnecting with that child inside is a start - to put it more specifically your ‘magical child’ self, as I’ve recently seen it described. Sound corny? Yep, maybe. I can’t tell you how long I resisted woo woo talk of connecting to one’s ‘inner child’, but, ultimately, I’ve come to realise that relinquishing control and letting myself play is powerful.
Powerful because you’re tapping into that part of yourself that bypasses analytical, ‘over thinking’, self censoring you. Powerful because you’re accessing a space, a place, just for you. A place where you can express yourself freely, without judgement. A place where you can meditate, be mindful, relax and reconnect with yourself whenever or wherever you need.
So, what’s stopping you?! Here are few tips for embracing your creative self through art journalling:
Just begin
Start small
Join a friendly art class or online group
Buy a cheap sketchbook - A5 is great for beginners
Gather some inexpensive art materials
Give yourself a theme - Spring, for example
Ask yourself a question - Like: Where am I now?
Join an Instagram art challenge and respond to their word-a-day prompts - For example, #februllage for collage enthusiasts
Set yourself some boundaries - Think: A 20 minute, playing card-sized collage a day OR a double-page spread in my sketchbook per week
Keep playing
Stop judging
Wait and see what emerges
Want to reclaim your creativity? What will your first step be?
