Creativity is like water. It ebbs and flows. Often my urge to make art comes out of intense bursts of inspiration. Sometimes I have stretches of time where I am not working at all. This is because I may have finished a painting and the next idea needs to marinate for a bit or maybe I'm anxious or just not in the right headspace to work. I will occasionally try to at least sketch during these quiet periods but mostly, I trust my cyclical nature. If I push myself to paint or draw in these dips of creation it usually just leads to frustration and burnout. Good thing I usually have something else creative up my sleeve! Here is a shortlist of the things that bring me (and my family) joy when I'm not in the studio making art.
Thrift / Vintage / Dress-up
I have loved thrifting and vintage shops since my early teens and the thrill of the hunt has not stopped. I love finding that one-of-a-kind piece, something I've never seen before, something maximalist, colorful, handmade, or unique. We all know by now that reuse is better for the planet. And if you buy vintage, your clothing is far better quality (if it's made it 50 years it's unlike anything you'll find in the store today) and craftsmanship. Another thing that isn't talked about much, but was a passion of mine in my late teen years, is that slave labor is used to make your clothes. Exploited women and children seeing clothes for you to wear one season and dump is horrific. Thrifting takes you out of supporting that inhumanity. I love playing dress-up with the pieces in my closet. I play with layering one-of-a-kind pieces and jewelry talismans. This love of dress-up led me to open my own vintage shop Indulge Vintage. (All orders get a vintage-inspired and hand-drawn coloring sheet by me!)
Folk Herbalism
This means I eat backyard weeds like stinging nettle, violets, and dandelions. I make tinctures with ethically wildcrafted herbs like yarrow or mullein. I dream with mugwort, smoke damiana, and carry dried lavender buds in a locket around my neck. I connect with the plants and learn from them. A few of my herbal resources are: Rosemary Gladstar's books, the Medicine Stories Podcast, and of course the plants themselves.
Reads
Some of my favorite non-fiction subjects to read about are dreams, animism, herbalism, stone age and neolithic goddess cultures, entheogens, myth, archetypes, the transition from an ancient egalitarian society to a patriarchal hierarchical one, and artist biographies.
Some recent non-fiction faves:
•The Alphabet vs the Goddess by Lenoard Shlane
•Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
•The Secret History of Dreaming by Robert Moss
•When God Was a Woman by Merlin Stone
• Cleansing the Doors of Perception by Huston Smith
Some recent fiction faves:
•Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado
•Women who Run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés
•Women and Other Monsters by Jess Zimmerman
Travel
Something we like to do is drive and explore new places. We love to take little day trips, find secret swimming holes, parouse mom and pop shops, and try new things.
Folk Art My favorite places to visit are folk art sites, grottos, and sculpture gardens. I am especially fond of the ones made by people who one day decided to make something and the desire to create bloomed until it consumed their lives and properties. These grotto sites are all over Wisconsin. We have more here than any other in the United States (I think?) Many of which we've visited. They are magic places to get lost in! The book "Fantasy Worlds" by Tashen is a great folk art resource!
Craft and Felt Toys
I have always been a maker. Crafting, sewing, embroidering, sculpting, making jewelry, etc. It's a practice outside of my artworks. I've made a few products too. A Medusa Sheela-Na-Gig sticker that sold out and my Famous Artists coloring book. I also sell handmade goods for home and body at the Viroqua Public Market. One thing I've been doing for years now is making felt toys for my daughter. I've made farm animals, fairies, a dragon, a cave, a volcano, wild Forrest friends, and Goddesses (a Celtic winter hag, Inanna, Yemaya, etc.) I have a love-hate relationship with the felt toys. It brings me so much joy to see her love and play with them but they are time-consuming and a challenge. It's fun and tiring! I've also made other sculpture-like works. I made her some polymer clay wands for her Harry Potter-themed birthday, they turned out so good! I also occasionally make garden decorations with concrete. It's nice to have the creative energy for projects like these while I'm in between paintings.
Making Home
Like I've said before, I love interiors. Making our home is something my husband and I love to do together- thrifting trinkets and one-of-a-kind items, rearranging furniture, painting the walls in bright colors, etc. My home is filled with refracted rainbow light, lace curtains, hanging plants, vintage pendant lights, brass candlesticks, moss green velvets, handmade textiles, heirlooms, books, and all kinds of beauty. Everything tells a story.
All of these things give me joy and feed my creative soul. They get me inspired and excited to get back into the studio!
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