Mike Is Being an Artist Again

From a Sonlight buddy’s blog. I love to read about folks my age who are rediscovering their lost passion for art.

(While your visiting listen to the fiddle music. It’s great!)

I was too embarrassed to actually submit my blog name for Art Every Day Month 2008. I much prefer to stay out of the spotlight and just do my thing. I’m in awe when I see the kinds of things the others create and pretty much feel like the poor relative living in the attic.

Just in time I read this bit from The Hidden Art of Homemaking (p 48):

First of all, be satisfied with the fact that although your art or talent may never be accepted by the world as anything ‘great’, and may never be your career, it can be used to enrich your day by day life: enrich it for you, and for the people with whom you live. And secondly, come to a recognition of the fact that it is important for you to be creative in this area to the extent of your talent: important for you as a person who is a creative creature.

AHHH!

My Flower Child (age 10 years 10 months and 29 days) helped me got into the groove today. She is my artist in residence and general all-around creative kid. She loves to create using whatever she can find. She has lots of cool art supplies, but the key word there is ‘whatever she can find’. What can be found is directly related to how deep the clutter is on the floor of her bedroom!

Today, she made several pieces using finger paint, cardstock, tissue paper, acrylic paint, watercolor markers, red plastic wrap, glue, glitter, and our experimental stuff of the day: Mod Podge. Evidently she has no more red acrylic paint (although she could produce neither the empty tube nor any other tube from her own stash), so she was very excited to see my new (cheap) set. Watching her wheels spin when she’s working does wonders for letting go of my inhibitions.

Here’s a picture of her hard at work:

Man decorates basement with $10 worth of Sharpie

Kratzer’s basement suggests that the great cultural influences wandered out of college humanities class — here a Churchill for eloquence during harsh times, a Joan Crawford for cinematic vampiness, Holmes and Poirot for great literary characterization — and set up shop together in the carefully hand-drawn markings of an educated imagination come to life.

Kratzer might be a lawyer by day, but in his off hours he is a man who has taken the artistic influences and heroes of his life and imagined them onto his walls, that he might keep company with them while he uses the pool table.

I have decided to commit to Art Every Day Month 2008 which starts (eek!) tomorrow, November 1st.  I’m probably more suited to NaNoWriMo, but my kind of writing is more along the lines of short, non-fiction pieces and the thought of attempting to write a novel in a year, let alone a month, is enough to melt my jello.

Yes, it’s probably nuts to commit to something like this right before the Christmas season, but I’m thinking that since we’re planning some artsy-type gifts this year that this could work well.

This blog has been silent for far too long as the waning days of summer, with its endless food storage chores along with attempts at wrangling the new fall school schedule, don’t leave a lot of blogging time.  I did take many pictures and hopefully during the long, dark hours of winter I’ll find time to actually get them on this blog.

In the meantime, check out the challenge.  It’s going to be fun!

“Every one is creative and that can come out in anything from photography to cooking to painting.” I’ve found a kindred spirit! And I don’t even know her name. Such is the blogging world. The blog is Creative Every Day…Everyday Creative and the quote is from her bio.

I’ve shamelessly borrowed the title of this page from the book written by Edith Schaeffer of the same name. Mrs. Schaeffer and her daughter, Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, are my much loved mentors and encouragers and I’ve only met them through their writing. The fact that I’ve never met them and yet they’ve had such a profound impact on my personal life, gives me the courage to share what I write publicly through this blog. If only one person is encouraged then I will say “job well done” at the end of the day! If I only introduce one person to the writings of these great ladies, I’ve done well.

Mrs. Schaeffer defines “Hidden Art” as:

“… the art which is found in the ‘minor’ areas of life. By ‘minor’ I mean what is involved in the ‘everyday’ of anyone’s life, rather than his career or profession. Each person, I believe, has some talent which is unfulfilled in some ‘hidden area’ of his being, and which could be expressed and developed.”

I consider these areas of life to be the ‘minor’ areas that have ‘major’ impact! Whether one is male or female, married or single, has a primary vocation inside or outside the home, or young or old, we all share the deep desire for enriching our everyday lives. It doesn’t have to be an “if” or a “when”, we all have the ability to make it a “now”. Created in the image of The Original Creator, we all have the desire and ability to create within us.

I’ll be writing about where I’ve found my own ‘hidden artist’ as well as ideas I glean from other sources and everyday living.

If you like what you’re reading on this blog, I highly recommend the book The Hidden Art of Homemaking: Creative Ideas for Enriching Everyday Life, by Edith Schaeffer.