During a cleaning spree this past weekend, I found all my old arts and crafts supplies. In three large boxes and some large shopping bags were all the unused arts and crafts supplies that I had collected over the past 24 and a half years. Needless to say, I found a lot of raw material for artistic inspiration.
Seeing these supplies in one place, the colored pencils and markers rolling off the table and spools of ribbons unraveling, I was sad and nostalgic for a time when I actually had nothing better to do than just play with these magical materials.
What happened to that part of me? When did I decide to trade oil pastels and felt for writing? I became rather sad.
However, after some thought, I learned a valuable lesson: the world should and can be your “art supply store”.
What inspired me as a child no longer does anything for me. I look at the scraps of gold fabric and fur, and I’m not really sure what I should do with them.
I worry: have I hit my creative peak? My brother jokes that most creative people hit their creative peak at 25. I’m getting close!
I try to be creative every day. I just use different raw materials now than I did when I was younger.
Look around you. Inspiration is something you don’t have to buy. Think about the people, places, and things that you love. Do they move you on a daily basis? Do they inspire action? Loving what surrounds you is a truly creative force.
Think about your feelings about politics and/or current events. Do they inspire action? Do you use tools like Facebook and Twitter as a creative outlet?
Certain raw materials are for certain people. Visual artists will always gravitate toward their medium of choice. However, anyone that wants to cultivate general creativity should accept that it’s alright and healthy to move from medium to medium.
What’s your current medium of choice and why? How do you think it reflects your current life situation and how do you think you can be even more creative using your medium of choice?