Studio and the Holidays: More Creativity.

Last week, I wrote about trying to balance the demands of the holidays with my studio days.  As I observed, life is a see saw balancing act each and every moment, not just during the holidays.  But, I missed something big here.

Creativity.  Being creative is more than just a living for me, it's as essential to my life as air.  I can't imagine a living a life without being creative.

I can see I've always been this way.  As a child, I made up stories as I roamed the woods and made mud villages.  I cut and sewed clothes for my troll dolls.  I re-purposed shoe boxes into mini troll homes.  

Now, I throw clay into vases, mugs, bowls and make masks.  I've made boxes with stories and screening spirits for the garden.  I still write about what I see on my walks in the woods.  And instead of decorating boxes for trolls, I decorate my home for my two and four footed family.

Here's what I realized: Instead of the holiday taking me away from my creative life, it gives me more art to make.  Walking in the woods to find a beautiful Grand Fir tree.  Imagining all stories my tree decorations would have to tell from all their years hanging on trees in my great room.  Remembering all the stories of curious little children waiting for Santa.

I get to set up mini Santa villages surrounded by some of my favorite books.  Mixing my functional art with my Christmas treasures is a real treat.  

Walking through the Zoolights at night with all the swirls of colors and animated animals swinging in trees.

I still need and want to create in my studio.  And, as I said last week, my clay can get cranky if it's not given the right attention at the right time.  I didn't throw this week, instead I trimmed and pulled handles.  And I imagined swirls of bright colors layered on my smooth, white porcelain pieces drying on my shelves as I looked from my studio to my big, colorful Christmas tree. 

Yes, it's still a balancing act between studio and holidays but it doesn't have to be a battle.  Because creativity for me isn't just about art making.  It's about making an artful life here on this planet, right now.