Behind the scenes

This week I have been photographing work for an online sale (on November 22nd - see my Instagram account for details). I sent my friend a picture of my studio set up; it looked arty and professional, clean and controlled.

Across from this set up was where I was really working, my work right up against the window so I could photograph in the best light on these short days. To my left all that I had pushed out of the way, on my right the work I needed to photograph, in ramshackle piles, amongst the usual debris of the studio. It all looked disorganised and out of control. But I was on a roll, there was an ad hoc system, and I was getting work done.

What if you show up in the space and time you have? What if you seize the moment? Create right now?

Yes, you could have your space neat and tidy, all the colours lined up, pencils sharpened and a clear plan. Or you could be yourself! You can be in your actual, complicated life, grabbing a biro and an old envelope and doing a drawing because it just feels right, in the moment, now.

I know that I feel better if I create every day but I am prone to putting in so many boundaries to showing up. What if I just show up as my authentic self? I am messy, I flout routines, I have a scattergun approach to life. I work better when I follow my intuition and don’t try to second guess or pre-determine what I am doing. And yes, I teach others how to use a sketchbook to find flow but sometimes that is hard to find, and just stepping in to a sketchbook can be inhibiting and and small acts of creativity can be stepping stones to a more organised and regular practice.

Embrace who you are and where you are at. Allow yourself to start something without constraints. Walk slow, dance in the kitchen, set a seasonal window sill, grab the nearest thing you can draw with and the nearest piece of paper and draw what you can see, right here, right now - without judgement.

When you can break through the internal messaging that says, I am tired, I will do it on Saturday, I can’t find my favourite drawing pen, I am going to the dentist soon…….when you can lean in to yourself, inwards into the soul that you are, perhaps you can find a doorway to starting to express your world, your way.

I was delighted by two things this week. One was listening to a podcast featuring my cousin, Rachael Dean who is book illustrator for Dame Jacqueline Wilson. Hearing her discuss the creative process and her commitment to her craft reminded me how much I am entrenched in mine and the continuous development of idea and research and expression. Sometimes you don’t realise just how much of life is enhanced by living creatively; the noticing of texture, colour, connecting the dots of inspirations. The podcast reminded me to do more!

The other highlight was seeing the work that a student shared from their completion of my online course Fearless Drawing. It was never intended as a how-to-draw-perfectly class (and as one of the first classes I put online it isn’t perfectly filmed). I get the feeling that when looking for courses, and paying for content, many want to be able to say, look, I can draw perfectly now. It proves the worth of the purchase.

But what I saw in this student was the liberation to draw boldly with shape and line, to let go of unnecessary detail. What I saw was the ability to find flow, to step through tasks, to gather ideas. And then what I was so pleased to see was the step off from the information gathered, the reworking of those shapes into applique and stitch - the owning of the marks and the process, the confidence!!

Sue hadn’t learned to draw perfectly, she had learned intention, and decision making and interpretation. Her feedback told me that she was empowered to carry on, to interpret the world through her unique creativity, with an expression that is joyful and process based.

“Thank Helen. You said something in the introduction of the Fearless Drawing course which I have taken to heart. You said that artists are attracted to different aspects of what they are observing and that they want for their art: colour, texture, shapes etc. It made me realise that I find the details a distraction to what I want which are the colours, the shapes, the mood of what I see and the composition of these elements - which don't have to be realistic to what I see. Yeaaa!!! I felt you gave me permission to not spend time on the minute detail which always bogged me down with frustration.” Sue S

Seeing Sue’s work reminded me to just get on with being me, to live by the mantra ‘Remember who YOU are’. I am not perfect, I juggle business and family and shaping my world; but the imperfect human who is tired and fallible can still grab a pencil and put it to paper as often as I can.

Who is with me?