Recently I visited a local museum with a few friends. This museum has an outdoor garden, walking trail that goes around a pond, fountains and terraces. I took several pictures as we drank in the beauty of the flowers and architecture. The next day, I flipped through my smart phone pictures and selected one to paint. I grabbed my jar of watercolor brushes, my watercolor journal (a spiral pad – that opens flat and has thick watercolor paper) and a simple set of watercolors (the kind that has 12 or 24 pans with solid blocks of paint – just like the kids use). And I quickly sketched a fountain and some surrounding flowers and plants. I really didn’t care if all of the forms were true to exact dimensions. In fact, I wanted it to look a little abstract and loose.
I spent about half an hour on the journal entry. Snapped a picture and shared it with my friends who had been at the museum with me the day before.
One of them, texted right back and wondered how I completed this painting so quickly after our visit. I explained it was nearly a daily ritual to get something in my art journal. She marveled. She had been an oil painter some decades back, but life happened, and although she is a wonderful artist, she did not paint over the years. I suggested to her, something that I had recently read. I do not remember if it was a blog or a book – I wish I could give proper credit. The writer said that since she graduated from art school, she had married, had children, had a career and had NO time for painting – she was an oil painter and really wanted to paint, but it does take some prep and clean up time. It’s also really nice to have a little uninterrupted time (hard to do with kids in the house). If you are oil painting, you need to manage your brushes properly and the oil paint takes a long time to dry. Leaving wet canvases around children or pets can be unnerving).
She said she had began to set her alarm 20 minutes earlier than usual and took up watercolor painting because she could quit in an instant if family or duties called. All you need to do is swish your brush in the cup of water and voila, you can be finished. There was essentially zero clean up time and it required only a tiny bit of space.
I loved her dedication. And I also thought it was great how she worked out a way to be creative, even at a time in her life when finding time and solitude was not easy.
So consider carving out 20 min., grab your watercolor set and just paint. If you can do it at the beginning of your day, you can meditate or pray while you are at it. I guarantee it will make a wonderful start to your day.
Artful-Essence 