Getting Back to Art after the Easter Holiday: Re-Learning How to Play

Back in the studio today after the Easter holidays, and the first job is to re-learn how to play. Not “create a painting”, not “paint a bird”, not “make something good”. Just play. It’s amazing how much practise it takes, this thing called “playing”. It only works when you let go, and allow yourself to make failures. Because in the letting go, you somehow gain access to a different part of your brain, it feels like a different sort of consciousness.

Creative LifeCatherine JenniferApril 22, 2025creative process, Creative life, creativity, holiday, studioComment

Massive Flops

On Friday I tried to “make a painting”. I planned the whole thing out so that I would feel confident in the application of the paint. And I made a MASSIVE FLOP. On a large, beautifully stretched paper canvas. It was painful.

Today, I remembered that it can’t ever be about the finished piece. It can only be about the process. Starting and not knowing how it will end up. Getting lost in it. Making delicious marks and new discoveries.

Catherine JenniferMarch 4, 2024watercolour, Painting, creativity, creative processComment