The outlet

The kids are in bed and the routine falls into place. I come down and sweep the kitchen and finish clearing, spend a few moments on the computer reading and then it's off to bed to draw. I love to journal. I grab a magazine and I'm off sketching furniture or creatures from children's books. Drawing relaxes me and it amuses me when I open my book, what I see the next day in my journal, --a mouse a dog some trees--mostly nature. The goal is to fill a pretty book each six months.

So far so good.



In Mexico where all the expat wives saw maids and nannies in the guest quarters I saw great things. I saw a studio space for me and my kids! The sun streamed in the windows and after the baby was a bit older I knew it could be our space to create. I drew a plan of what we could put inside. I found the local art store and Little S and I began stocking up on supplies. We'd have to clear the space and clean well--the desert dust had blown through cracked windows for months, but it would be a wonderful escape where we could leave everything out, which meant working and stopping on whims. In the meantime we started painting in the dining room on the table and we set up a small table next to it with the supplies.

Life changes, turns on a dime sometimes. We left Mexico before the art room ever happened. I was somehow relieved that it never got set up. How sad it would have been to tear it down?



Now there is a new space in mind. No Mexico sun in the French basement but lots of inspiration. We still have the drafting table thrifted years ago and I still buy things for my space. It excites me to think about it, how it will look and what can be created down there--scraps of paper on the floor, glue in cupboards, children's art classes, and maybe even a return to the sewing machine (maybe a different one because even if Seb swears it will convert he already blew out out toaster and all the electricity in the house in a conversion episode--he can't touch Bessie!).

Doesn't everyone needs a space to create something. I truly think so. And if a person has no space to create or no thing to create then aren't they a little frustrated, sad, apart from everyone else somehow? There is that elusive moment that reveals itself when we're wrapped up in the creative process, a sort of pride in being, hard to explain really, that touches on an important part of the soul and breathes life into the spirit. It's so vitally important that I'm sure it's necessary for everyone to do it to be happy. Even the scientist has this moment--the surgeon the chef. Everyone.



Right now my spaces for creating are my bed (sketching in the journal), the garden (gardening, sketching, same) and the dining room table (painting from time to time). My photography is omnipresent. I take my camera to the damn grocery store. In France apparently this is illegal, or so I've been warned. Oh the risks we take for art. These are my creative outlets and the spaces where I work. I need them and use them. They are a lifeline.

And then of course there's the blog--but strangely this writing doesn't fulfill me as much as my art and photos do. I often wonder why. Writing for me is different. I record things that's all.

I'm sure everyone has an outlet. I'm just curious. How about you? What do you create and where ? What touches you deepest? Or well, maybe just a little bit.