Bex Hall

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creativity exercises

Another month in the book

May, chapter 5 of 12

May Phenology Wheel and Nature Journal

Because the last four days of the month were stormy and unseasonably cool, I am inclined to dub the entire month the same, but I look at the wheel and there only nine days of inclement weather. Nine days does not an entire month make.

This was the second of two super full moons this calendar year and it did not disappoint. Super moon means it’s at perigee, or at its closest point to the earth. It was bright and big and made four in the morning seem like an odd sort of daylight. Kind of silver tone.

Nature Journal

The flowers, birds, mayflies, bugs, and bats are in abundance after what seems like a long absence. The scent of honeysuckle, wisteria, and lilacs perfume the sometimes balmy air.

I learned about a new flower called the Star of Bethlehem. It bloomed on our river lot in the dappled shade near the bank. The iris from my daughter’s house in Tennessee is in its third year and flourishing.

This is the fifth month I’ve recorded what is happening in the natural world around me and I’ve noticed some positive shifts. 

It no longer bothers me to stop what I’m doing to watch the birds or butterflies. I feel more confident drawing freehand in pen. There’s a sweet anticipation of discovery to each new day.

One of the best side benefits I’ve realized from this project though is the reinforcement of the belief I have it in me to see something through. As of today, June 4th, I have spent 155 days tending a journal by hand.

As each month goes by, the book grows and so do I.

Phenology Wheel

The 7 Permanent Things I Learned Creating Temporary Art

Gel pen art on leaves

After The 100 Day Project ended, I wandered around in the artist’s desert, thirsty and chasing mirages for a week. I sat in the sun and noticed a tuft of weeds in the sidewalk’s crack (because there are sidewalks and lawn chairs in my desert) and my imagination sprouted a tomato under the greenery.

So I grabbed the stash of chalk and got busy.

I drew a pink tomato. It was fun, whimsical, and temporary. I was okay with my work eventually being washed away. There was joy in the creation and that was the kind of day I had.

The next day I penned a message on a banana peel. I knew my husband would throw it away, but I made him laugh and that made me laugh and that was the kind of day I had.

The day after that, I gathered items that caught my eye and arranged them in what I intended to be a mandala, a symbol of my inner journey. It was misshapen and odd, and I knew something would naturally dismantle it. But right then I was present and appreciated everything that brought me to that moment. And that was the kind of day I had.

Then after four straight days of sunshine, I felt the urge to draw a sunflower and jot some thoughts on the whiteboard. I knew I would erase it eventually because that’s how life works: you get rid of the old to make room for the new and I was okay with that. And that’s the kind of day I had.

Today I gathered some leaves and decorated them with gel pen. I had to use a light touch and be gentle. With the leaves and myself and my art, and that’s the kind of day I had.

😊

This, my friends, concludes my exploration with ephemeral art forms and here are:

The 7 Permanent Things I Learned Creating Temporary Art

7. There was no fear or resistance, just playful curiosity.

6. It was a good practice for literally letting go.

5. There’s powerful focus on the present, the now.

4. The option to wipe the slate clean frees creative flow.

3. The process is more important than the quality of the results.

2. Mistakes and imperfection aren’t the end of the world.

1. It positively influenced the kind of day I had. 

😊

May you have a creative flow in whatever you do today. 

xox