The prompt this week at Inspire Me Thursday is "bold". Instead of a new creative interpretation of the prompt, I decided this time to offer what has become part of my creative process in recent months. This tiny (3 in. x 3 in.) Prismacolor pencil drawing of bold color and movement is actually part of my journey back to art after a long creative famine. I'll try to keep the story short!
In 2005 we were living on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi when Hurricane Katrina devastated the region. We were very lucky (didn't even have to file an insurance claim!), but I was shocked by the devastation in my community and in my neighborhood. I had already been struggling creatively, but suddenly I was paralyzed by the pain of my neighbors and friends, and by the stories of suffering that I heard first-hand every day. So I went to work, or waited in long lines to buy groceries, or drove along the beach looking for familiar places that no longer existed, but didn't make art. Many people find this sort of event creatively stimulating, but I simply could not pick up a pencil or a paintbrush, or even take out my sewing machine. I struggled even harder than before, trying to find a way to put something to paper or canvas, and several months later, after moving back to Alabama, I pulled myself together and decided that I would have to tackle this problem one small step at a time. So every day my goal was to make a tiny piece of art, no matter how simple, and what you see here is my very first attempt. After that, even if I just painted a bold square of color on a scrap of canvas, that was enough. And although I still struggle with ideas more often than not, I at least have a process that lets my mind get in the right place for making art. Now I really enjoy making small things, such as little drawings or itty-bitty craft projects, some of which I may be sharing in a few days.
Oh, and by the way, staying home during a powerful hurricane when you live only a couple of miles from the beach? Really bad idea.
