IMAGINATION IN A BOTTLE                            

Do you have trouble coming up with original ideas in your art practice?

Are you concerned about perfectionist issues? I.e. is my artwork good enough?

I have worked as a teaching Artist for over thirty years, teaching all skill levels and ages.

While I love the challenge of working with adult art students and all the attendant issues that come with learning how to truly represent ones feelings on canvas, it’s the little kid’s attitude to creative expression that I really enjoy.

 Their imaginations are unbounded and free to be.

If I could bottle their fearless spontaneity and feed it to anxious adult artists, I would be a millionaire!

But imagination only flows when we allow it to enter of its own accord. How many times have you been sitting quietly or taking a walk on the beach when you suddenly get a great idea for a painting?

How does that happen, when other times, it seems the only thing you can see in your mind is a blank canvas?

Young children delight in the opportunity to express their feelings with paint. There are no anxious moments blocked by irrational fears, just spontaneity and passion as they boldly sweep colours across the paper.

 What I admire most about these mini Picassos is they are always delighted with the finished product. It’s so inspiring!

 So the obvious question comes up in my mind; what happened to our fearless creators between early childhood and adulthood and what can be done to rectify the situation? I think we all know the answer to that question.

 So in the last thirty years I have made it my business to help artists rid themselves of the dreaded Artists Block and move forward and begin to paint like a six year old , and to view their imagination and feeling-body as a friend , always there to help and guide, just like mine has done all my life.

How do you fire up your imagination?

What inspires you to boldly express your feelings about life?

Di Skelly Heron.  Clinical Psychotherapist/Art Therapist/Teaching Artist