Getting started isn't always easy

Somedays its hard to pick up the pencil

Life has been crazy lately. As a full-time carer for my 15-year-old son with autism, my days are packed with meetings, appointments, and navigating a system that often feels like two steps forward, six steps back. My eldest is about to turn 18 and is working hard to get into university, so there’s a lot of change happening in our house.

Monday was a big cat sticker kind of day

I’ve been trying to shift my mindset a little. Instead of waiting for the perfect moment to sit down and create, I’ve been finding small ways to bring art back into my days.

Tips for getting started;

• On the days I am tired/busy/stressed - Do digital art on my iPad. Sofa art is relaxing!

• Doodle or paint in my low pressure journal - It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece

• Mark making exercises

• Make collage papers

• Tidy my desk - I use a lot of mixed media and this can create a lot of mess. Just tidying my desk I can get distracted and just start painting

• Watch a You Tube live - My favourite is Charlotte from Blueshine Art with Charlotte Hamilton always makes me motivated and want to do some art

Recap of the week - I am so pleased I published my first Substack post! I have been wanting to for over a year.

I caught the replay of Thursday night’s Art Hang Party with

Melissa

, where we drew spring images. Why do my cute animals always look terrified?

A few images from Art Hang Party "Spring"

I often don’t get the chance to make any art over the weekend. Thankfully, Charlotte records drawing sessions. On a quiet morning this week I caught up on a drawing session Cars in Mexico. I don’t often draw cars but I think it is good to draw different subjects. I worked from one of the many reference photographs. I really liked this one of a taxi and colourful buildings.

Finished reading:

I finished listening to Stephen king’s On Writing memoir. I really enjoyed this book and found it very inspiring. He talks about how he kept going despite the many early rejects. As a creative I think we can all relate to that.

On the needles:

Besides art, I’ve also been enjoying some knitting this week. I cast on a new pair of socks, the Poet Socks by Sari Nordlund. This looks a very complicated stitch pattern but its a lot easier than it looks. Although a lot of concentration is required.

I’d love to hear from you! How do you fit creativity into busy days? Reply and let me know, or share your favourite low-pressure creative activities in the comments.

I hope everyone has a good week. Thank you for all the likes, comments and shares from my first posts last week.

Take care,

Louise