This month we’re talking about creativity. Think you’re not creative? I’d bet you just haven’t found your happy place yet. For every child prodigy who knew at the age of five that she wanted to be a writer or who sold his first finger-painting to Grandma for a nickel, there are many more of us who come to the game later in life.
That doesn’t mean we’re lagging behind; it means we have more to bring to the table. Would you write the same story today as you would have written when you were twenty? Older artists mix experience into the paint and words that bring to mind a complete scene. We can always learn more, teach more, and experience more, and by then, we’re old enough not to care what anyone else says about it!
Start coloring outside the lines and find ways to create in the coming year. For tips on how others do it, read Barbara Florio-Graham’s last in a series of five articles about creativity, how Lucy Francis combined two passions so she can enjoy both, and how Daniela Frongia creates cover art and characters. There’s also a piece about the adult coloring-book craze; if words are your passion and you can draw only stick figures, maybe getting creative with someone else’s drawings will open up new ideas for you. You can even make coloring-book pages from your own photos at www.reallycolor.com!
What would you like to learn? See more of or less? Feedback is essential, so send a note to editor@spawn.org and let me know.
Sandy, Editor, WPNews