Why it’s great to listen for the gifts
A couple years ago during the @melissadoty.art Squareathon challenge, I created a square with painter’s tape and watercolor. Tape removal revealed some bleeds and I wrestled with the imperfections. Since the square was “ruined” I jotted down some thoughts around the perimeter of the art and considered it finished.
But the words stuck with me.
I wrote them because of the mistake and the intention was to communicate from one artist to another.
A kind of “the struggle is real” commiseration. But there were a few good wishes as well.
I kept calling it a “wish” or a “prayer” but that wasn’t right. It occurred to me to call it a blessing. An Artist’s Blessing.
When I created the color squares here, I didn’t know yesterday these would be today’s prototypes for a gift that’s been in the making.
I learned this is not the right paper to use but it gave me the perfect opportunity to use a brand new brush. @marisa_made showed us last week some of her favorite watercolor brushes and the Silver Black 3000s she showed particularly caught my attention. P.S. I LOVE IT.
I practiced handwriting around the artwork and learned placing the text spaced away from the art, like a little border or frame, is a better design.
It also feels important the actual art have imperfections, like a little tape bleed. I’m trying on different pen sizes and whether to use color text or not.
So I listened yesterday when I felt inclined to create these squares and I’m happy I acted on the whisper. Glad I let my curiosity play.
I’m much closer to the end result—an Artist’s Blessing created because it needs to be loose and in the wild. A fun, lighthearted gift to make your artist smile.
This is a work in progress and it’s important to remember creativity lies not in the done, but in the doing. And once this IS done — it’ll be time for the next thing.
May your creativity lead you to happy surprises.