The accidental artist

So it’s been an extremely hectic week but I still managed to write my blog every morning and read every night before bed. I even managed to work, prepare meals, do dishes, tidy the house, be a mom, celebrate my dad's birthday and eat (surprise!) between the blogging and the reading (my Christmas tree, lights and decorations are still up though!). The book I’m reading now is The Confident Creative by Cat Bennett. I love the colours, the layout and (obviously) the content (I even love the paper it was printed on)! Every time I pick up the book, I feel inspired. I will tell you more about the book in an upcoming blog post but for now, I'd like to share a quote from the book (this is almost a Quote 4 Blog post but with a little more substance!):

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” – Picasso

Have you ever observed a child who is drawing or colouring? I would describe it as zen-like...as being in the moment...mindfulness...or simply as just being. I don’t really remember drawing or colouring as a kid (I obviously did though!) but I do remember colouring with Sarah when she was younger. It was fun! I especially enjoyed colouring in her Barney colouring book (“Barney purple!”...remember that Sarah?). Have you ever been to a restaurant where they have crayons at the table and they allow you to colour on the tablecloth? Isn’t it freeing? I also love doodling! How many times have you found yourself doodling on a paper while bored in a meeting? I, unfortunately, was not blessed with artistic talent (so many other talents though!) but I do have an appreciation for other people’s artistic talents (my daughter’s especially!). The book that I’m currently reading reminds me that I don’t have to be good at something to find pleasure in it (ahem!). In her book, Ms. Bennett encourages you to pick up a pencil (or in my case, colouring pencils) and just start drawing. Here’s what I came up with tonight:

"Look Ma...No Hands" by Tracey

I must say that as I was drawing and colouring (do I use both verbs if I’m drawing using colouring pencils?), I felt free from thoughts about work, about what needed to be accomplished in the house, about this crazy world that we live in, and about the sugar that constantly calls my name! My overactive brain (not to be confused with oversized!) is not accustomed to the term “relax!” but while I was screwing up creating my crappy art masterpiece, there wasn’t a thought in my head (yes, I'm proud of it!). I wasn’t even thinking ahead to the next colour I would be using on the paper or what the end product would be (Tracey not pre-planning...shocking!). So go ahead, give it a try, be creative, set yourself free if only for a moment...all you need is a pencil and a piece of paper! Your brain (or mind...what is the difference between your brain and your mind?) will thank you :)

As for the title of this blog post, I got the idea from As It Happens, a program on CBC radio that I was listening to on my way home from work tonight. The segment was about an “award” that was being given to BP (remember that oil spill?) called the "Accidental Earth Experiment Prize". BP wasn’t awarded the prize to honour them but rather to dishonour them (you hate me...you really, really hate me!). It was a great segment that stuck with me so tonight, after drawing, I was inspired to call myself the “accidental artist”.   Who knew I was so talented?

If you’re interested in the radio segment (you should listen to it!), here’s a link (the segment starts at the 7:00 mark): http://www.cbc.ca/video/news/audioplayer.html?clipid=1742496007

If you want to read more about the Accidental Earth Experiment Prize (it’s brilliant!), check out this link: http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/thegreengrok/earthexperiment

Wow - I’m not sure which is more impressive - that I wrote a blog post about art or that I was able to incorporate science into a blog post about art! Maybe I should start writing my blogs at night?

P.S. You probably won’t hear from me again until Saturday since tonight’s blog post really counts as tomorrow’s blog post which I’m thrilled about posting tonight because I have an early morning meeting tomorrow (technically, it's almost tomorrow!). But who knows? Something might inspire me to write before Saturday.  Maybe I’ll hear from my FH John Cusack?!? Yes, of course, the first thing I would do is write a blog post about it :P