Creativity List

The topic this month in my blog circle is: 10 things I need for creativity.

1) My beloved office space – oh how I love my office! I instantly feel a sense of ease when I walk into that room. It’s one of my happy places. Half of it is set-up for painting, and the other half is for sewing and other crafts.

2) Uninterrupted time – As a mother of 4 (plus 1 amazing exchange student), finding undisturbed time is almost laughable, especially since I still have one at home with me during the days. Obviously, I cannot postpone creating as I wait for the ideal time, but it sure would be nice to have more than 2 hours to myself. Painting is probably the hardest to do uninterrupted. If one of my kids sees me, he/she inevitably wants to join in on the action.

3) Music – I like to do a little sing sing and dancey dance while I’m working. Right now, my current music of choice is latin pop hits.

4) A full belly – One thing you don’t know about me is that I like to eat… and once I finish eating, I am often thinking about what I will eat next. Some days, I have a constant hunger, and it’s so distracting!! Although, there was 1 time where I was so “in the zone” that I totally forgot to eat a meal. I was shocked!!! I never understood how anyone could “forget to eat.” Psshh… yeah right.

5) Supplies – Ahh… I love my secondhand supplies!! From my used paints/brushes/canvases, to my vintage sewing machine, I love finding used materials.

6) Balance – Now this is a bit tricky, but I do think it’s important to mention. As everyone most likely knows, when you’re doing something that really interests you, it’s easy to get consumed by it and lose track of time. So, I need to be cognizant of how much time I have spent with my kids, my husband and on my own doing what I love to do… and what I currently love to do is salsa dance!

7) Sunshine – Obviously this is not a steadfast requirement in order to create, but having the sun out in recent days certainly helps elevate my mood. Little known fact… I love the sun (though not for sunbathing reasons) and have 3 sun tattoos. Here’s my most recent one that I treated myself to on my birthday a couple of years ago.

8) Unplugging (as much as possible) – I say “as much as possible” because, in reality, I can’t totally disconnect. I need to be available for my kids’ schools since my husband often travels for work, and… well… I admit… I have a slight facebook addiction!

9) Inspiration – For painting, I often start without knowing where I’m going. However, in due time, a thought will hit me that I want to materialize onto the canvas. Instead of painting it right away, I do some rough draft sketches in my sketch book. It’s also fun to peruse my sketchbook to see past ideas that haven’t come to fruition yet… perhaps they will make it onto a canvas in due time, or maybe they were simply leading me somewhere else. The unknown journey is part of the fun.

10) Uninterrupted time – Oh wait… did I say that already? I mean seriously… I know this face is cute, but sometimes mommy just wants to be by herself! Haha!!

So that’s my list!! Let’s see what my other creative cohorts require for their creativity. Next up is the amazing Amy Riddle’s blog!