I gave my friend her birthday gift last weekend and ended up giving myself a rather unexpected gift: a new creative interest.
I took her to a painting workshop on abstract art. The workshop took a free painting approach. Our instructor demonstrated different tools and techniques to paint with, directed our attention to the paintings hung around the studio and the small photo albums of art clippings for inspiration, and said that he would be available to answer any of our questions. We were left to paint whatever we wanted however we wanted.
Which was perfect for my friend and me, since neither of us had done any painting since elementary school. We splurted various acrylic colours onto our palettes and let our paints take us wherever they led. And just like the first blank page when writing, my blank canvas intimidated me. I didn’t know where to start, and I didn’t want to ruin my painting with an errant brush stroke or poorly mixed colour. There are no erasers or backspace or undo buttons for canvas.
My finished painting, acrylic on canvas, Day to Dusk
I soon learned, though, that with layering, blending, and combining colours, mistakes became sources of intention and inspiration. I gained control over my canvas as I determined how to manipulate the acrylics and various tools to create different effects. It wasn’t long before I realized that I was creating something. I, one who cannot even doodle, was creating a painting.
That knowledge smacked me with delight. Painting, drawing, sketching—all the visual art stuff—I deeply admire but never imagined I could do myself and feel such joy doing it. But I did. Painting in that workshop filled me with as much creative energy and excitement as any of my other creative hobbies. Suddenly, I wanted to rush out and turn my apartment into a painting studio and line my walls with my own works.
Of course I had not intended to give myself a gift when I gave my friend her birthday gift, but I have no other words to describe my experience at that painting workshop. It was a gift to discover another creative interest, another avenue for self-expression, another form of creativity.
It reminds me that us creatives can be even more creative than we think and that we need not relegate ourselves to our one, primary creative passion. We also don’t need to be masters at the hobby to find joy in it. Sometimes, being a novice gives us the freedom to experiment, to make mistakes, to laugh, and to enjoy.
Speculosity 