THE DRAWING CHALLENGE!! CREATIVE BEGINNINGS - Finding FLOW.

Here I am ready to go on my first ever blog!

As a lover of all things artistic I find that as I get older creativity can either be locked into the notion of something once practiced and forgotten or I can continue to explore it and to develop the imagination. I actively choose the latter. Being creative however isn’t just something you do. It’s part of being human. To acknowledge this and to practice what is innate in us from day one is a sacred and grounding act. I choose to follow this creative path and let my soul be enriched by the language of dreams and wild imaginings.  

I set a challenge for myself recently to let this creative force flow through me more regularly.  For me, this “flow” is what being creative is all about. It’s that feeling you have when time and space seem to stop around you and all you know is the process of creating itself. It’s like a waking dream. Or an active meditation.  You experience this flow when you give awareness to the task at hand and immerse yourself in the process. It could be when you are cooking, or gardening, or even cleaning. It might be when reading a story to a child or writing a poem or letter. You may find this flow patting an animal as it sits trustingly on your lap or by your side.  You may find it when you imagination is locked into a book and you are creating worlds upon worlds just by reading. It may even be apparent when you are out walking and you are taken by the beauty of the horizon and the shifting light and the creation of the light itself lets you lose all else for those moments....

So my challenge is to create for flow.  Just to find flow itself.  To let myself be immersed in that wonderful state. I set up this challenge with the help of some friends. I sent out an online message to my friends:  “I am challenging myself to draw more. Even if quick and doodled or sketchy and not-so-recognisable. Pen to paper is the aim. So.... List me ANYTHING you would like to see me draw.... and... GO!!!” The response was this delightful list:

• “Pixie perspective of sunrise in the forest.. “(Jay B)
• “Mermaids. Always mermaids.” (Bekky H)
• “Your very own extraterrestrial!” (Zoe E)
• “Ninjas!!!” (Patrick Q)
• “..oh and Alice would like fairies and butterflies”  (Alice Q)
• “A slow loris....” (Troy L)
• “Side car and motorbike, and a lotus flower x” (Meaghan D)
• “A beach, with a surfer or dolphins, and the the sun setting. Give a paradise that I can dream about please.” (Tim E)
• “Our cat!” (Jess G)
• "My cock/rooster".... (Daniel T)
• “A horse.” (Steph F)
• “Mr Squiggle ?” (Nick B)
• “A bridge” (Leanne B)
• “Draw love. Not two people in love, just love itself. Go!” (Sheena C)
• “Hi Lou, please draw my cat Louie looking at me with regret as he sits on the neighbours fence. I can use that in my blog” (Bridgette B)
• “Lou, would you draw (my passed and present dogs) Eponine and Cesario together for me?” (Christine H)

I am setting myself a challenge to complete all of these within the next two weeks.  Will see how I go!!!