Creativity is a fundamental part of human nature.
Why has art been so important during lockdown?
It is personal, diverse, accessible, empowering, productive, and creative escapism.
There are no rules.
Go get creative!
Listen and Subscribe On Your Podcast Service
If you can’t find the podcast in your usual service provider.
Click on THIS LINK and you should find the link there
Each week I bring you a book suggestion. Non-fiction, fiction or even my own. I want to share my adoration of books. So go download, buy your book, snuggle down and enjoy.Grayson’s Art Club – The Exhibition
Midlife Isn’t A Crisis Facebook Community
You can make a small donation to my business It’s like buying me a coffee or a cuppa tea, I’m from Yorkshire, it’s the law that we drink a mug an hour! Huge thank you!
If You Prefer To Read Your Content
0:05
Hi, Christie here. On the ninth of March and yes it’s Tuesday, so this episode will go out today. And when it gets to my intro, you’ll know why I’m a little bit late in recording this. And today’s episode is going to be called. I use art and creativity, as an escape.
0:26
And the subtitle, just so that you understand what it’s all about. We mustn’t be scared to try new things.
So hopefully I will get you involved in art and creativity this week.
I also want to mention Patreon because as you know you can support this podcast and my work for as little as a coffee a month a couple of dollars / couple of pounds. And this week I’ve been putting a lot of short stories on the Patreon account almost one a day. So it’s another way to get hold of my writing as part of that, I want to give you that as sort of thanks for your support so don’t forget to nip over to Patreon and have a look at what benefits you can get over there, because it’s a really small amount, and it helps me bring you this content free, and all my other content as well.
And my first intro for the week. The kids are back at school in the UK, I’m not sure where you are in the world so I’m not sure how it’ll be for you but they’ve been off school for months, and it’s been quite challenging, but a lot of us now will be picking up caring duties again now the kids are back at school.
It’s great that they’re back with the friends, and in sort of their usual learning environment for those that do at school.
It’s a sign that lockdown is slowly creeping back.
I’ve been really productive this week my writing productivity has actually gone through the roof I’ve been really pleased with what I’ve managed to get done.
It was a definite mindset shift.
I made a decision to do it in the 6am or 7am writers club at least, now, every day. And I’m really achieving a lot, and I’m absolutely loving it. I’ve got a really strong network of writers behind me on this new genre that I’m looking into.
Don’t be afraid of just shifting your routine a little bit because it can make a huge difference. And also the reason that this episode is a little bit late, a little bit shorter is because I trapped a nerve in my back yesterday. And I can hardly stand, which is fun. I’m not in too much pain, it’s just when you move, which body tends to do. So, I will whizz through this episode and I hope you’ll forgive me if I’m a bit distracted on it.
So back to the actual subject about art and creativity as an escape.
I definitely use it as that. I’m a knitter, I crochet, I do sewing, I do art, and I’ve got an iPad and an iPad store which I’m really lucky to have. I’ve discovered a resource called Bardot Brush, which I will put in the show notes for you. I was drawing, just the other night, just random, sort of, I love abstract artwork. I’m not a skilled artist I would love to go to some classes at some point, but I really enjoyed that.
What I find is that if you are doing artwork, you can’t really think about anything else it’s like doing jigsaws, which is very much looked at with a bit of derision lately but you have to concentrate, you can’t really stress about things when you’ve escaped into a piece of painting.
I think that’s proven by just how much art is on television lately. Throughout lockdown there’s been a huge amount a sort of resurgence of art and art programmes and creativity and things like that. It’s quite sad that all the galleries have been closed I’ve not really understood the logic behind that either, because to me they could easily if they can do with supermarkets they could easily sort it out. I suppose that’s a bit naive of me to expect that but I’m looking forward to the galleries reopening, at some point. You can see a lot of them online, some have set up online viewing processes so that’s quite good.
It shows that humans need art, and I was watching a nature programme the other day where an artwork on a wall was 30,000 years old, which is beyond comprehension, isn’t it? But it shows that art has always been part of human nature.
One of the my favourite programmes is Grayson Perry’s Art Club. It’s absolutely wonderful. If you’re not familiar with Grayson Perry he’s a fantastic character, a real eccentric Englishman, such a kind person and Grayson’s Art Club is based in his art studio. He contacts everyday people about their artwork. And one of the things that really comes across in that programme, as well as other programmes on about landscape art and portrait artists, is that it is very, very personal and subjective.
So don’t be scared to try art and creativity!
If you’ve always wanted to paint or draw or write. Then, why not have a go. It’s very personal, you don’t even have to show it to anybody if you don’t want to. If you want to really escape into the jotter pad or your computer or wherever you don’t even have to show anybody that artwork.
It’s diverse, anybody can do it. And you can do whatever you want, you can do portraits, you can do landscapes, you can do abstract, you can do painting, drawing, textiles, there are just so many different versions and Grayson’s Art Club shows that there are just so many ways of people expressing through art. And now on a second series.
The first series was during the first lockdown.
There were some characters who had special educational needs, their artistic creativity was amazing, and it was what kept them going through a lockdown.
Don’t underestimate the power of art.
It’s often looked down on isn’t it, as if it’s a luxury, and it certainly shouldn’t be.
It is creative, by definition.
Escapist, you can escape the stresses and strains of the day just by 10 minutes with your art project.
It’s productive. You might even make things that you want to sell, a lot of businesses have started around people who are creative and artistic where they’ve realised they need to supplement their income or they want to maybe shift the working hours because they’ve reassessed the lifestyle.
It’s empowering.
It’s yours. You can do whatever you want with it, an empowering creative forum, to be able to do whatever you want with that forum.
It’s accessible. Obviously some artistic hobbies are really expensive, but others you just need a pad and a pencil, and that’s where you can start, you can pick those up at a pound shop or in the you know the back of the kitchen drawer, you’ll have something that will make it accessible to you.
7:13
I think the other thing as well that encouraged people to take up art is homeschooling.
It has been massively challenging for some people. For many people, but it’s also shown carers and parents that art can be really good fun. That just sitting down and colouring or doing a school project, making things out of leftover toilet rolls and tin foil, you know, it can be a fun thing to do, and a group thing to do with the family.
Remember there’s no rules.
Just do what you want. It’s not harming anybody. Just do what you want.
There’s a lot of free online resources. So again, Bardot Brush is one of the ones I use but there are many, many, many places that you can get online tutorials.
You can get on YouTube and watch videos about portraiture, all sorts of things, so don’t think that you can’t afford art lessons therefore you can’t do art. It’s not necessary.
A lot of the best artists in the world didn’t have lessons. So don’t worry about it.
It’s your personal art and creativity, you choose what you want to do, but if you want to get professional at it, or you want to pursue it as a professional approach, then schedule in some time. Do some tutorials, you can create a new career from it.
You might want to sell your paintings, you might want to do something as a full time job or merely to supplement your income, and that is perfectly possible.
Don’t let anybody say that you can’t do that. Look on Etsy, there are a huge diverse number of creatives and artists who make a living on there. That’s just a tiny proportion of the artists across the world, who make a living from their art.
I’ve actually got a little painting that’s about eight inches by three inches, and we bought that on a bus of all places, in Ecuador, from a guy who just sold his paintings to the tourists, and it’s a beautiful piece of art. He just does them on these tiny little canvases and their little gems. There’s nothing stopping you doing the same sort of thing.
It is escapism, it’s an escape from the stress and the strains.
No matter what your career is always make time for art and creativity and nourish your soul, try and create something, and like I say, I’d love to see how you escape into it.
Is your art very dark?
My writing tends to be dark, but my art tends to be abstract and quite logical. I remember back as a child I used to love colouring in squared paper with very regimented symmetrical patterns with felt tip pens. So I think I’ve got a more structured artistic brain than full on creativity throwing paint to the canvas. But then I do watching that type of art. I really admire people who can just totally let go and throw everything onto the canvas, literally.
So that’s the episode for today I’m not going to carry on. Because, as I say, I can’t sit still very long because of my back today.
My book recommendation:
I’ve got to give it a really because I just totally love the show and it’s
Grayson’s Art Club – The Exhibition
He’s got a paperback I’m a bit disappointed it’s not a hardback because it’s such a moment in time, lockdown and such a point in history. It would have been nice to get a hardback book to commemorate that and to commemorate the art and get really good quality pictures from it.
I have got a book that’s a hardback photography book. And it’s nice to keep that as a moment in history. So maybe he has done the hardback and I’ve just missed it as a limited edition I’m not sure.
I’m not sure if my Rankin photography book can even be bought anymore but if so I’ll put the link for that as well.
And then my call to action:
Go and check my Patreon and see what is in there.
Also, I want you to try something creative and something artistic, just grab a piece of paper and a pen and do some doodling for 10 minutes and see what comes out. Whether you are a writer or creative already, by doing something in a different form of creativity and art, does that impact on your other work?
I’d like to know that, I’d like to know your thoughts on it.
All right, so have a lovely week.
If your kids are back at school, enjoy getting a cup of tea on your own for a change and catch you again next time. Bye.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Slight edit by me, forgive any errors, my back aches today!