Written by Wren Jessica Richards

*Photo by Bugs Boyd of Wren* *(Ancient Rhythms Art)*

Maybe you are really busy, like most of us seem to be,

Perhaps you don’t have much space in your home,

Perhaps you have limited finances for art supplies,

Perhaps you don't feel like you are good enough,

These are all valid points,

But do they mean that you can’t get creative starting today?

We (the OHC Team) don’t believe so. Here are some insights into how we create and how you can begin or deepen your creative practice.

To integrate creativity into your life, can be in the way you cook, arrange your room/home decor, style an outfit, facilitate an event, create a card for someone's birthday, celebrate special moments, make a playlist, write a letter of appreciation for someone, garden … So many opportunities to be creative when we open to it!

But I am too Busy to Make Art:

Oh we feel you, as multidisciplinary artists, business owners and students we certainly understand the feeling of overwhelm and juggling a few worlds.

I see creativity as vital to my well being, I know that if I don’t maintain it I am worse off; so I schedule it in, like I would exercise or time with the ones I love. I personally love writing in a physical diary to plan out my week. I have a fantastic ‘Mi Goals’ Diary that I sit with on a Monday or Sunday and plan out when I am going to create. This diary also has a habit tracker that helps me to stay on the path with other practices such as yoga and being in nature, which I believe supports creativity. It is very satisfying to scribble in the dot when I have completed the practice and makes it visually obvious when I haven’t been doing these thing that are meaningful and helpful.

After years of scheduling it in, I have got to a place where I always have some little craft project with me. I like to multitask and if I am hanging with friends in an environment that is suitable I will sketch away or embroider. I generally wake up early for some sort of movement practice, but also to have some time to myself to get creative before going to work.

Maybe all you can fit in is an hour or two on a Sunday afternoon or one evening during the week. If you are really social it may mean saying no to social engagements at times. We are all different but over the years I have arrived at a place where I check in before I commit to anything. I pause and zoom out to see how that would impact my whole week and if I can really afford that social time or would it be better for me to spend that time doing something creative? Because I know my mental health needs it and also for me as someone pursuing this professionally, that I want to improve as an artist and this discernment with my time is what it takes.

Where will I Unleash My Creativity:

Start with something small, build a little kit that you can easily move, store it in the linen press or the laundry or in a stylish basket in your lounge room. Set up on the dining table and then pack it away.

We use MDF boards and clips to draw on, you can even just sit on the couch with one of those. Needle crafts or crochet are great to start with as they take up minimal space and mess. As does drawing or watercolours, especially watercolour pencils or paper crafts such as collaging and scrapbooking. This will get you started and if you enjoy these things so much then a nook can be found in a home, especially if the people you live with can see how much this means to you/improves your mental health, then a little space is a small price to pay.

The medium options listed above are easy enough to take to a cafe, library, shared working space or out camping/on holiday for a little creative retreat.

Photos by Wren (Ancient Rhythms Art)

Making an Art Practice Affordable:

Second hand shops will sometimes have supplies in them, or on Facebook Marketplace. At OHC we are firm believers in finding things second hand and creatively using what is already in this world. Many suburbs have a buy nothing page and so many people have art supplies they don’t use sitting around, so posting there before you go out to buy things can be very helpful. Nature is also a huge inspiration! You can respectfully forage for things from nature to work with.

As a student and someone that for the past 8 years has prioritized making a living from my art, I haven’t had much money. But I believe in quality products and minimal impact on the earth, so I slowly save for the things I need and will buy a small amount of good quality supplies at a time. Put it on your wishlist when people are buying you gifts, or when I treat myself, this is what I treat myself to, knowing that this gift will carry me much further than a night out or another item of clothing (though don’t get me wrong I love an op shop gem of clothing and do see upcycling and styling as a creative outlet).

Experimentation and Letting the Perfectionist Have a Break :

You need to try things out, you need to give yourself permission to not do things well, so that you actually want to do them. If we set a high bar from the get go, it is too intimidating.

We get fixated, and can carry that energy for a while, but it will burn us out or create a block and a lack of inspiration. Meaning that you may get put off creating for a little while or perhaps a long while and that is such a shame.

It's important to do something to the best of your ability, whilst still having an enjoyable time, don’t get me wrong there may well be moments where you are not enjoying yourself, moments of challenge and that is how we grow. Overall we want to aim to be enjoying creating, so that we actually want to do it regularly and then of course if we do it enough, we improve and start to produce better and better work. The first step is building or reestablishing a relationship with creativity that is sustainable and that makes you feel good. There are so many areas in life where we need to do things in ‘specific’ ways, for ‘specific’ results, it is worthwhile endeavoring to leave that out of your creative practice. Especially if you are just looking to get creative and not pursuing it professionally.

In short, allow yourself to relax into the process so that you want to come back to this practice over and over again, building your skills in the process…

In Essence :

When I look at these things overall, to maintain creativity one needs to be organized and have a strong foundation around the practice so that it can sustainably flourish. It’s interesting, I can think of many examples where there needs to be structure so that flow and freedom can be accessed and creativity is no different.

The deeper I have got into creativity the more I have realized this, life can get swallowed up by so many other things. So if I want to create I need to have firm boundaries so that can sustainably happen. We need to make creating as accessible for ourselves as possible so it does not feel like a distant dream, rather something within our reach to enjoy here and now in whatever small or large shape that takes.