I love my husband. He has this quirky sense of humor that shows up in the funniest places. Like the little notes he leaves me when our gardening efforts fail to yield the prolific produce we were anticipating.
Or the commentary he posts on my culinary experiments.
And I really loved the chalk line he left to show me where to park my car because one day I parked it right smack in the middle of the garage, thinking I would be leaving before he returned, and he backed straight into my rear bumper.
Yes, the garage. HIS domain. So you can imagine my surprise when I returned from a retreat last October, proudly holding up my very first acrylic painting and my beloved says, “Oh, that’s nice. Maybe you can hang it in the garage.”
I decided to use it as a backdrop for my vegetable photos instead. The bounty was better that year.
Flashback
I am visiting with my good friend and college buddy Mike. His dad has taken up painting in his senior years. His canvases consist of little squares torn from a variety of cardboard containers. Cornflakes boxes, grapefruit crates, wine cartons. Anything he can get his hands on. The man had never painted a thing in his life (except maybe his garage) and all of a sudden he was painting oodles of cardboard squares. Nonstop. His garage became the gallery. I’m sure his wife had the same reaction, “Those are nice, dear, why don’t you hang them in the garage?”
I looked at my husband. I decided not to take his comment personally. Instead, I pondered the question, “What is art?” What makes one piece garage-worthy and another, well . . . simply worthy? I decided it was time to explore this new art form with no expectation (and no experience whatsoever) to see where it would take me.
I began with a course called Intuitive Painting. This turned out to be so much more than a painting course. Flora Bowley calls it a process of discovery, where you allow your paintings to emerge naturally through an organic process of letting go, opening up, and welcoming inspiration of all kinds. I learned a lot about the creative process. I learned even more about myself.
Make art because the process of getting messy both terrifies you, and thrills you.
As many times as I watched my frolicking first graders leap at the opportunity to get their hands in paint, I never imagined I would find myself exploring this medium with the same relish. In my childhood home, it wasn’t okay to get dirty. And we never, ever made a mess. I love all the tools and brushes and techniques that I explore in this process. I love working with my hands and making a mess even more. For me, the process IS the product.
Play with paint. Use your fingers.
There is something about letting go of a brush and just dipping your fingers in a glob of ooey gooey paint that, for me, evokes the childlike quality of play. Play has been a rather elusive entity in my life so making time for a play date with my paints feels like a gift. Try it. You’re never too old to finger paint.
Find the beauty in your work. YOU are the beholder.
When I finished the Intuitive Painting course I heard this little voice inside me say, “Okay, now it’s time to take a REAL painting class where you can learn technique.” I thought about this. I realized this is a story I tell myself every time I embark on a new creative project. My need to learn more wasn’t coming from a true desire to explore painting in a more sophisticated way, it was coming from a place called “not enough, never enough.” I am no longer beholden to that script. Beauty is most definitely in the eye of the beholder. (More on this next week.)
There are no rules. There are no rules.
Artistic endeavors are highly personal. Some days we may just want to dip our toe in the creative stream because making art feels soothing and playful and right. Other days we may want to stay with a piece for hours on end and really ‘produce’ something. There are no rules for self expression.
Honor your art.
My paintings may never make it to a gallery but I can tell you they will NOT hang in the garage. I plan to honor my art. I’ll begin right here and then who knows? I may just find the perfect wall. Or even, some day, the perfect customer.
This post was written in the context of a blog hop with my beloved colleagues, the creative spirits below. Check out their blogs to see what they are creating and what they have to say about the process.
[box size=”large” style=”rounded” border=”full”]
With a background in physics and English, Melissa Fu is an educator and writer who enjoys working across many disciplines. Currently, she is writing a collection of pieces based on growing up in the Rocky Mountains. Melissa’s approach to teaching writing is informed by her experiences in the classroom as well as her studies at Teachers College, where she earned a Masters in English Education. She is especially interested in creating ways for writers to claim and hone their voices. Read about Melissa’s creative process on her blog: One Tree Bohemia. And, learn more about upcoming workshops at melissafu.com.
[/box]
[box size=”large” style=”rounded” border=”full”]
Lynne Cameron loves change and being in different places. Each new space offers fresh ways of seeing, and its own opportunities for making a home. Basic needs include a kettle for making tea, poetry books, paints and brushes. She is an artist, painting colour-rich abstracts grounded in the natural world. She has been a professor of applied linguistics; a teacher of children and adults; a trainer of teachers. She’s written books on complexity, metaphor and empathy, some of which won prizes. She runs training workshops for women who want to progress through academia (with Karen Littleton), and for businesses who want to understand how empathy can work for them (with Jo Berry). And she paints. You can see Lynne’s paintings and read her thoughts on the creative process on her art blog. And, be sure to check out her Empathy Blog and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.
[/box]
[box size=”large” style=”rounded” border=”full”]
Narelle Carter-Quinlan is a global leading exponent on yoga for scoliosis and embodied spinal anatomy. Renowned for her uniquely beautiful content-rich presentations and deep, yet playful teachings on Spinal Anatomy, Narelle delights in illuminating the complex with originality, humour and story. She is a dancer, choreographer and artistic director, currently researching House of the Broken Wing, a performative, film and written exploration of moving in a scoliotic landscape. Visit Narelle at Embodied Terrain to read her thoughts on creative process, view her Embodied Ecology Photography© and to hear more about EASS-y, her upcoming e-course exploring the embodied anatomy of scoliosis and yoga.
[/box]
[box size=”large” style=”rounded” border=”full”]
Emily Gubler suspects John Wesley Powell would say she is over encumbered by unnecessary scruples. She spent a decade traveling the country as a wildland firefighter and another half working in the back of an ambulance–and was thrilled by the number of poets and artists she met in each field. Currently Emily lives on a Colorado hillside, writing short stories and personal essays and delighting in Western Tanagers, Great Blue Herons, and Golden Eagles. Her writing and her thoughts on the creative process can be found on her blog, Ordinary Contradictions.
[/box]
20 thoughts on “Maybe You Can Hang it in the Garage”
Sue Ann, my first thought when I read your husband’s suggestion to “hang them in the garage?” was that he loved them so much he wanted to keep them in “HIS domain”. ha ha ha!
It doesn’t surprise me that we can learn a lot about ourselves through art; when I homeschooled my boys I learned so much about them during craft times. Their personalities and differences were so evident especially when they were offered finger paints. One carefully dipping the tips of his fingers in one colour at a time, wiping his fingers before changing colours and the other literally throwing his entire body into the palette and mixing all the colours together!!! That’s when we invented toe painting!
HI Sue Ann. I love your husbands sense of humor. How lucky you are. I also really appreciate your willingness to get dirty and to cease judging. I too was brought up with very little humor or fun or messiness. Those things were frowned upon. I have been slowly adding ease and silliness back into my life. I would love to try an art class, especially if it would help bring out that side of me. Thanks for sharing this. I love your paintings, especially the red running through the ones you posted.
Ah Sue Ann – Love the notes, love you story, and love the reflections you’ve prompted in me. I do wonder what it would be like to paint – it mystifies me. Somehow, early on, art (especially painting) became inaccessible to me: afraid of wasting paint, of making a mess, of ruining the brushes or the white canvas, of getting mocked for the efforts. I’m not sure where all that fear came from. It does seem so daring to put colours onto paper/canvas. Perhaps I can adjust that to ‘no experience, no expectation’ and learn to play again. Thank you for this!
You know I was thinking the exact same thing as Angela…that your husband wanted that picture for himself 😉
Bless you for sharing your experiences and musings – admire your sense of humor and ability to turn all this into learning opportunities.
Do you know about Laura Hollick? I am sure you would be perfect to be part of her International Soul Art Day – I can so visualize you there!
I too was taking the positive spin on his garage hanging recommendation. As we often enter and exit our home through the garage, over the last year I have been working on keeping it neat AND I’ve hung a couple prints. It puts a smile on my face on many a day to see them as I leave and return from my journeys.
I love the way you write, Sue Ann. It’s so poetic and artful. Your words, your photography, the way you titled your blog post, and your choices to be the one to see the beauty in your own artwork and to enjoy the playful process of creating are all so delightful.
I, too, have discovered the joy of painting. I’ve taken online classes with Jeanne Oliver and studied Kelly Rae Roberts’ book, “Taking Flight.” I found that even though my finished product didn’t look anything like something someone would sell in an art gallery, the joy I felt while I was in the process was amazing. I hummed the whole time I was painting.
I have a thought. Perhaps your husband’s comment of “Maybe you can hang it in the garage,” can be flipped on its head to “Your art is worthy enough of hanging in my domain.” 😉 Who knows?
Whatever the case may be, I’m so glad you’ve decided to honor your art, because you have such a beautiful way of expressing yourself. It deserves a special place.
P.S. Love those little notes your husband leaves you. How cool is that?
Lovely writing and beautiful art, thank you for sharing your creative expression with us Sue Ann!
Your beloved . . . is so beloved . . . and you . . . your words are so captivating. Your story so simply lovely. You made the corners of my lips curl upwards.
I loved your art with your vegetables. Divine.
I loved your art so openly displayed here. Humbled.
I loved your words embracing your process. Relaxing.
I love your expression of who you are. Embraced.
I too, believe the process is the art. That is the case for me. And when I’m done, it doesn’t matter where they are hung, as long as I love them dearly. I release and let go. They are where they are meant to be. They’ve been in many places. Perhaps I shall talk with them tomorrow and see if they have anything to say about all that! I can’t wait to hear where yours end up. Perhaps the garage will become an unexpected shrine? or . . . Keep us posted! xoxoxo
I LOL’d when you wrote ‘maybe we can hang it in the garage’ because my parents have lined their garage in art that no longer suits their downsized home but they were not ready to let go of. It make me smile every time I go into their home (thru the garage).
As for finger painting, I recently posted some incredible art that was done without brushes. I will find the link and send it your way…incredible to just let go and be free with your art!
I can really relate to this post! I don’t consider myself an artist, but there’s a part of me that wants to try! Just cut loose and see what happens. I feel like I need a class or something first, which maybe I WILL take, but now I’ll also consider that I can just let my creativity fly. Beautiful pictures!
Like some of the others…I think my first thought was he wanted to have your art in his man cave:)
I LOVE Flora Bowley’s work! Have you seen the shower curtains made from her pieces? So fabulous! I also can’t think of a better course to explore paint and intuition and creativity than hers…I did that course 2 years ago and loved it.
I wholeheartedly agree that our art is so personal and we need to honor it as we honor anything in our lives and I have to say that it was watching those first graders get messy when I was a classroom teacher that awoke my inner-fingerpainter. I’m not sure there is anything quite as fun as getting lost in paint and intuitive creative mark-making joy.
xo
Yes, sounds like you did a great course.
I do “art” – a lot! little drawings, to exform, to free stuff, to play, to see what image pops up, to explore.
When I did a multi-media course I don’t think there was one thing that I wanted to hang anywhere – i just loved doing them for the sake of the experience, the joy, of messing around with colour, paint, water colours etc – it is such fun!
Oh Sue Ann thank you for the laugh. Your hubby and mine have a similar sense of humor. AND my kids take my paintings home. I joke that they are conspiring with my hubby who doesn’t want them in the garage. I have always dabbled in sketching and painting, it was resurrected after my mother passed over.. I will make more time for it, I will. YES, keep us posted.
this is so inspiring to me, sue ann (and thank you for introducing me to flora bowley!). i have been revisiting art therapy the past few months,a technique i formerly used in my work with eating disorders. the creative process is such a beautiful way to express your feelings, your story, yourself. “there are no rules. there are no rules.”
I really enjoyed this post Sue Ann. ‘There are no rules’ shall become my creative mantra!
What a great experience! Any form of self-expression is art. I love how you mentioned that there aren’t any rules. I find a lot of peace and beauty in that. People find art in all areas of life. Someone once told me that when it comes to art, it is not the price tag that determines it’s value, it is in how deeply it resonates in you.
Sue Ann, yet another creative side of you has emerged and it’s absolutely beautiful. Why am I not surprised? Art is more than just putting a brush to canvas, it’s expressing what’s in your soul. Actually, your hubby’s lil’ notes were creative, too. You two make quite the pair! Keep painting.
“YOU are the beholder.” I am learning this lesson big time. To behold my own life as if it is a gift unfolding in front of me. Which, of course, it is. Sometimes I say things that surprise me, “I didn’t know I felt that!” or “I didn’t know I thought that.” and yet the words that come tumbling out of my mouth or onto the page as I write are truer than something I might “ponder.”
Creativity is gold and when we give ourselves spaces in which we are challenged to enter the FEAR zone really cool things emerge. For you, just now, it is painting. But you have explored so many other fear zones where the creativity muse shows herself.
Thank you for bravely taking this journey so we can watch, learn, and see ourselves in your words….and brush strokes.