The Nature of Artistry

Artistry. An artist is defined as “a person who creates art.” Art, at it’s most basic level, is defined as “something that is created with imagination that expresses important ideas or feelings. Hmmm.

Creativity. Creativity is defined as “the ability to make new things or think of new ideas”.

Artistry and creativity. I’ve been thinking about these words a lot lately because for most of my life I did not think of myself as creative or artistic in any sense of those words and I can’t really remember spending much time as a child doing artsy-crafty types of things. Slowly, though, I’ve started to realize that artistry and creativity appears in many forms. My Mother crocheted, knitted and did cross-stitching and embroidery. My Dad took hundreds (and hundred and hundreds) of photos and apparently he was also quite the poet. At  83, he is busy making slide shows of those photos – with music and everything! At 83!!! My Sister is also a gifted poet and writes an award-winning blog about her struggles caring for her husband, who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s a number of years ago. She’s also a very accomplished, self-taught photographer and takes fabulous nature shots. My Brother is a professional actor. I guess it’s fair to say that those are quite creative, artistic pursuits right? It’s just a matter of your perspective.

For me, having the time to explore my own creativity and artistry feels nourishing. But also a bit overwhelming. In the few weeks since I closed my digital shop I have been absolutely all over the place in terms of art. I’ve done abstract watercolor florals; practiced scribbly faces, completed an acrylic canvas; started an “everyday” journal; tried some simple sketching; experimented with new acrylics, creating tons of backgrounds for the fun of it; started a whimsical inspiration journal for a class; looked into learning brush letter for mixed media and on my iPad Pro (happy birthday to me!); started a watercolor class, with another b beginning in March; joined Life Book 2017 and Wanderlust 2017 and Inspiration Wednesdays; signed up for  Finnabair’s first ever online class (swoon) and a Procreate (iPad Pro) class for art journalers. I’m re-visting Dina Wakely classes I took a couple of years ago and need to get started on a Roben-Marie Smith class I purchased in the Fall. I’ve also started a project using vintage photos of my Mom and Dad – a project inspired by a Denise Love (2LilOwls) class.

Whew! My 2017 word is “renew” – maybe it should have been focus!