The creative potential of space
I hope you have all had a lovely weekend! I have just got back from a long walk in the sunshine, it was so good to get outside and be in the open landscape. There is something about walking in this way with no agenda that really creates space and feels so good.
When I first started to give serious consideration to my art (in a lighthearted way of course!) I thought that in order to call myself an artist I had to be painting every day and producing finished work and a whole host of other “should’s”. It took me a while to understand what having a creative practice is really all about.
As time has gone on I have realised that this practice encompasses all the things I do in between the painting, producing work and seeing clients. Getting outside in the landscape, making studies in my sketchbook, making notes about my work to capture themes and ideas, and a whole host of other seemingly random unrelated activities; essentially, being human and living life IS creative practice.
It’s really good to see that we are the creators, we get to choose the “how”. For me being aware of how I am defining my creative practice and understanding that as a human being my factory default is creativity, through my thoughts and my hands, is super helpful.
AND I have also realised that for me, this includes having agenda free time and unplanned space in which to hang out. These spaces enable ideas to percolate in my unconscious. The opportunity to just hang out in the gallery of life and allow it to work its magic, inspire, and co-create with me.
One of my favourite “time-wasting-that’s-not-really-time-wasting” spaces is at twilight. I can’t tell you how much I love this time of day. It’s like a divine moment that transports me to the space between worlds, beyond thoughts and feelings. I like to make myself a cup of tea and sit quietly watching the veil of darkness descend and listen to the birds getting quieter and just be really present to the experience. This liminal space between night and day never fails to touch me and render me still and silent.
It is so comforting knowing that twilight will come again and there will be space for everything to settle down and percolate. It has become something that I have eyes for because it is fertile ground for my creative life, like manure for the soul.
Of course we can create a twilight moment whenever we want to, that is our creative gift as humans. Understanding how we are creating our experience in each moment really helps us with this awareness, and we can settle our minds more readily, and make space for new ideas.
This inner space gets created naturally, there is nothing we need to do. At the same time, we all have our own favourite doorways to this quieter space, for some its the rhythm of a good run, for others it is making a cake or pottering in the garden, but the wonderful thing about these quiet spaces is that they allow ideas and insights to pop up, when we least expect them, and that is universally helpful whatever we are up to in life.
So as I sit here, I reflect on the fact that painting or listening to a client, are doorways for me too. Anyone that knows me, knows that when I get absorbed in either of these activities I get lost in time. Those spaces that have us in this good feeling, doing what we love, are the ones that are rich with creative potential and feed our souls.
Wishing you a lovely week and happy space making!