It’s six months to the day since I resolved to do something creative every day.
At that time, the resolution was partly an attempt at distraction. So, therapy, in a sense. It was also partly an attempt to reconnect with my childhood and the intensely creative atmosphere in which I spent the first ten years of my life. And partly as a kind of valve that gave me mental space to scratch a creative itch (and mix metaphors).
It was never my intention to create an outcome or an object every day. Just to spend some time with creativity. There has been less than a handful of days in which I haven’t fulfilled the resolution. Sometimes but not that often, I’ve spent the better part of a day doing a creative thing. Others, it might be five or ten minutes. Yesterday, for example, I knew I was going to be busy. I woke up frustrated that I might not be able to get my creative fix. But I found five minutes in the morning to work on a wood carving project I started some time ago, and another five later, to sketch (poorly) part of an indoor plant. That was enough.
From the start, I’ve taken the broadest possible definition of creativity. For me it’s about fashioning something out of something else. So, yes, it has covered painting, working with wood, macrame, linocut printing, making candles, carving things in pebbles. It also covers writing, verse speaking, make-up, masks, blogging, creating and editing video, making music, cooking, preserving and so on.
The point has never been about the output. While I have created some things specifically for others, most of this is about the process, not the end product. I have used meatpunkspit as a sort of diary to record what I have been doing. It’s not secret or hidden (how could it be?) but I haven’t broadcast its existence. I know that there are a few people who look at every post and that there are others who dip in now and again. That’s fine. Much of what I put up is experimental or unfinished or just attempts at things that have taken my fancy. I’m not an artist. But I do art.
My converted attic, where I do most of this, is littered with daubed-on paper, egg shells, used teabags, wood shavings, tubes of paint, brushes, chisels, gouges, pens, pencils and all manner of other materials. I’ve made/created lots of stuff, far more than I have ever put on this blog, and most of it isn’t great. But it’s mine and I’m happy that I’ve done it all. And I’m going to continue to do it because, as well as still being partly about those things I mentioned above, keeping this resolution is now also a source of significant pleasure.
Just as a kind of summary, here’s some of the things I’ve been doing …
And some more …
