Notes From the Field: Creative Play

snapshot of the jumble from the bulletin board in my studio...

the photo is of of my mother at the age of 10....

I looked just like her when I was 10

Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.

— Heraclitus 500 BCE, philosopher

I'm going to return to a theme that I revisit on these virtual pages rather regularly....the importance of play in the studio...to feed our humanity and the creative spirit, which lives in each and every one of us. I take my play rather seriously, actually, as I explore it through the daily drawing practice. But even I need to be reminded now and then of the purpose and the importance.

March 3, 2016

May 17, 2016

May  14, 2016

May13, 2016

As I sit down with my tiny torn 6x4" sheet of Japanese paper, I put pen or pencil to paper and let my hand move as it will. The time spent making the drawing is not about making "art", nor is it about outcome, but is experiential in a process that is perhaps akin to "call and response". Through the process I let go of any idea of what will happen or should happen and respond moment by moment, in tune with where my hand wants to move. Do I switch from making these marks to making tiny circles?....go.....Do I now want that white pen to make contrasting lines, white against the rich gray of graphite?....go.

When we are truly engaged in play, we are not concerned about the future moments and how it will all end....we are in the moment, enjoying the experience and the flow of being. There is no competition....with the self, with another, only the act of moving and thinking through the body in a process of discovery. 

But the best part is....the moments of discovery end up feeding the "art making" process, in which there is an end, a product, a culmination. And too, these little artifacts of the process, as shown here and in my Etsy shop are a reminder, a kind of document of some moments in time. They bring joy to me and I'm happy to see that they bring joy to others. I sell them in my shop on occasion and am happy to know that they touch people in simple ways. 

Hope you take some opportunities to play during your day, whether through drawing or any of a million other ways to engage in the present moment. Cheers!