Everyday Creativity • by Ruth Bleakley

OK, I’ll admit it: I have a creative compulsion. For me, the need and desire to create new things goes beyond simply wanting to — if I go for too long without indulging in some kind of creative pastime, I get seriously “itchy fingers.” I know I’m not the only one! The question is, how do I balance creative time with my everyday life?

Art as an Everyday Possibility
I started making things at a young age. Rather than lots of structured activities, my mom provided us with all sorts of art supplies that we could use as we pleased (except glitter haha, because it was so hard to vacuum!). Lots of coloring books, clay, string and beads, paints, pastels, crayons, watercolors, and stamps were available so that as I was growing up, “creating art” wasn’t a sort of sacred thing that you went to a class once a week to do — it was more of an everyday thing. Then I got older and I took art classes in school almost every single year, so that by the end of college I was wondering, “How do you keep making art outside of school? What if no one assigns you projects?”

I was consumed with this question and asked everyone creative I knew — I thought when I finished school I’d be locked into an office job, with no time for art. I had an idea that art was for kids, and adults didn’t “do art” unless they were professional artists, or maybe they took a class once a week. I wondered what would happen to me without the motivation of projects, deadlines, and grades. Well, I’m here to tell you that you that only good things will happen when you’re allowed to make and create things wherever and whenever you want! The key is to make sure you have the tools and space you need, much like my mom did when I was little, making art an “everyday” thing.

Keys to Creating
Here are the key ingredients to making art an everyday possibility:

• Set aside a “studio space,” somewhere that you can leave your work out undisturbed without having to clean up mid-project (so, NOT the dining room table). Over the years I moved from a small TV tray that I’d set on my lap to a cheap IKEA table with a clamp lamp to my studio now, a full room in my house (formerly the TV room … which brings me to my next point).
• Recognize the amount of time you spend in front of a screen, and sacrifice some of it to make art. Do you know how much TV I used to watch when I was a kid? Guess! If you guessed in the realm of three to four hours a day, you’d probably be right! When I misbehaved in middle school and high school the punishment was taking away the TV. Now, I still love to watch shows (Lost, Game of Thrones, and Parks and Rec come to mind!), but I’ll watch them in DVD form on my computer instead of getting sucked into channel surfing for hours. I also used to spend hours a day playing computer games. How much time do you spend watching TV and using the computer? Could it be that’s why you “don’t have enough time” to make art?
• Make whatever you want. This one seems obvious, but I think a lot of us swear off certain things because we think we’re “too old” for them (I’m thinking like spin art or magazine collages) or we’re “not good enough” (like oil painting or origami). Listen: If you want to try something out, just get a cheaper version of the supplies, check out a book from the library, or watch a YouTube video and go for it! Much of what I know about bookbinding is self-taught — I even taught myself Adobe Illustrator for my stationery and invitation designs. You can do it too!

To learn more about Ruth Bleakley, visit ruthbleakley.com.