Daily Rituals for the Creative

Having some sort of daily ritual may be the most important part of the creative process. It took some time to actually figure out what works for me. With my eldest in school full time until late in the afternoon and my youngest in preschool until after lunch 4 days a week I have those four days to work. Twice a week I need to drive out to the burbs in the morning for an appointment, but I am able to bring more portable work with me and I don't lose much productive time outside the driving time. The daily ritual mostly stays intact.

Morning Rituals:

1. Coffee + Morning Pages
2. Blog 
3. Light Breakfast
4. Shower
5. School Dropoff
6. Exercise/ stretching/walking/biking/activity
7. Studio Core Hours 
8. Lunch/ Social Network
9. Tidy
10. Preschool Pickup

After the preschool pickup I am try to squeeze art or reading in whenever possible but I can't schedule it in. Some days are better than others and it is important to wake up each morning with a fresh perspective. That is where the Morning Pages become so useful. When I wake up in a funk I can often write myself out of the negativity and salvage my mood. So many days I wake up without a plan about what I am going to make and I just get going and something happens. 

Green Hands

 So far I have done fake gelatin printing twice in the week that I have been back from Haystack. I wasn't thrilled with anything I made in the print lab at Haystack so I vowed to print at home. And the reusable Gelli plates and water based inks help make that possible. I can do print sketches on cheap printer paper and play around. Very freeing allowing me to experiment. During naptime or after the kids go to bed all I need is at least 20 minutes and I can make something. Right now my hands are a little green but I was able to print with very little time investment on a whim. Priceless. Totally worth the green hands.

printmaking "sketches"