How to be an artist

STAY LOOSE. LEARN TO WATCH SNAILS. PLANT IMPOSSIBLE GARDENS. INVITE SOMEONE DANGEROUS TO TEA. MAKE LITTLE SIGNS THAT SAY “YES” AND PASTE THEM ALL OVER YOUR HOUSE. MAKE FRIENDS WITH FREEDOM AND UNCERTAINTY. LOOK FORWARD TO DREAMS. CRY DURING MOVIES. SWING AS HIGH AS YOU CAN ON A SWINGSET BY MOONLGHT. CLUTIVATE MOODS. REFUSE TO BE RESPONSIBLE. DO IT FOR LOVE. TAKE LOTS OF NAPS. GIVE MONEY AWAY. BELIEVE IN MAGIC. LAUGH A LOT. CELEBRATE EVERY GORGEOUS MOMENT. TAKE MOONBATHS. HAVE WILD IMAGININGS. TRANSFORMATIVE DREAMS AND PERFECT CALM DRAW ON THE WALLS. READ EVERYDAY. IMAGINE YOURSELF MAGIC. GIGGLE WITH CHILDREN. LISTEN TO OLD PEOPLE. OPEN UP. DIVE IN. BE FREE. BLESS YOURSELF. DRIVE AWAY FEAR. ENTERTAIN YOUR INNER CHILD. YOU ARE INNOCENT. BUILD A FORT WITH BLANKETS. GET WET. HUG TREES. WRITE LOVE LETTERS.

Read how some of these were experienced by a group of 14 year olds between 4pm and 4am. The creative process is taken from the Soul Food Cafe, a wonderful source for inspiration and ideas for writers and artists.

More inspiration. This was through a weekend drawing event at WetCanvas. The image of the accordian player appealed. The costume, the stance, the background. I tried it with pen and ink and watercolour wash on my Moleskine. I do like the way it beads up on the Moleskine sketchbook even though I have the Moleskine watercolour book too. There's something about that paper that always draws me back to it.