Margaret Atwood
-The Times
We took part in the
Lights Out campaign to commemorate the fallen during WW1 this week. We lit
candles in our newly patched up conservatory and sat amongst the flickering
lights until it went dark outside. We agreed no electrical equipment so phones,
music and kindles were turned off and we sat quietly, Simon reading and me with
a sketch book a friend had given me for my 30th birthday. The only
sketches the book contained so far were ones by Simon and his 3-year-old
nephew, sadly none of my own. I find I have less and less time for sketching
ideas with having a full time job, a Labrador and a new house.
I have been giving
myself a hard time lately about ‘not being an artist any more’. I felt I had no
time for it; that being an artist was now in my past, no more exhibitions, no
more commissions or projects. Why bother keeping my blog, it is all old work
and it just highlights that there is nothing new on my CV. As if somehow I thought
I could only be an artist if someone was paying attention to me.
However, sat in our
candlelit conservatory, writing in my sketchbook I came to a realisation. You
don’t choose to be or not to be an artist, you either are or you aren’t. I am
now slowly coming around to the idea that the house and garden are my new
sketchbooks.
I’m now appreciating
that I don’t have to create ‘artwork’ to satisfy my creative needs, I can put
my creativity into everything I do. I remember reading that Gilbert and George
never cook; it was a life decision they made so as not to waste their
creativity. I don’t have the
luxury they have to eat out every night, but actually I’m not sure I’d give up
cooking, I quite enjoy experimenting with it. Walking the dog in the woods is
as inspiring as a walk through any gallery or museum and the garden and house
give plenty of opportunities to experiment with different creative ideas.
As Margaret Atwood
says, being busy doesn’t have to mean the end of creative output, I just need
to stop thinking about it so much and maybe spend more time with the lights,
phone and television turned off.
