Craft Club: Earth Pigment Pastels and Lost Creativity

Hooray, it’s Wondercrew Wednesday! It’s ALSO the first day of Pride Month, which means that I have a wonderfully COLORFUL project to share with you today! I love being able to share something special with my beloved Wondercrew, the kind folks who support me so I can share so many wonderful things with others. This week’s surprise is a Craft Club project that I’ve had a lot of fun designing, I hope you like it too!

Earth Pigment Pastels and Lost Creativity

It breaks my heart how often I hear “no, I don’t really do any art because I’m not artistic or good at it.” So what? Since when has art only held validity if it appeals to others? Why do we think it is only worth our time if it holds financial possibility or some other measure of productivity? Not every interest or hobby has to become something you’re good at, and they certainly don’t need to start as such! Make bad art. Make art for yourself. Make art because it feels good, and know that you don’t have to show it to a single other person for it to be valid and wonderful. 

It’s easy to forget sometimes that we are not products. We are pressured to turn any interest of ours into a “side hustle,” to exploit any talent. These are the lies fed to us by capitalism, and I’m here to remind you that life is about enjoyment, which YOU get to define for yourself! Draw poorly! Write bad poetry! Paint disasters! Make a mess! 

Art can be so many things. It can be a way to process difficult emotions, a way to record a memory or feeling, a form of meditation, a joyous expression, a way to unwind after a difficult day. The act of creation can be a wonderful form of self-care. Many people, like myself, listen better when they are allowed to absently doodle during class. Some of my best ideas come to me when I enter the “flow state” of focused creation, lost in a project. When I used to have panic attacks, the one thing that reliably grounded me was making glass beads with a torch. All of these things are absolutely invaluable. 

Creative thinking is important far beyond the constraints of artistic expression, as well. Though most of my peers that graduated from art school have gone on to pursue careers outside the arts, every single one I have talked to says that they consider their art education an essential foundation for what they do now, because it taught them to look at everything from a different angle, question arbitrary rules, learn to creative problem-solve, and communicate their thoughts and feelings in a multitude of ways. Every time I hear of an arts program being cut in our STEM-focused education system, I grieve. Creativity is an essential part of humanity and robbing our children of the chance to explore it is absolutely a form of cruelty. Kids need art, just as much as you do. 

“Every child is born an artist. The problem is how to remain one when we grow up” - Pablo Picasso. 

Have you ever observed some small children with sidewalk chalk, happily spilling their imaginings all over the sidewalk without a self-conscious thought in sight? If you don’t identify as a creative person now, chances are that your creative impulses were squashed by shame at some point in your childhood. I’ve spoken to so many people that can recall, with specific detail, the words that made them want to stop drawing, or singing, or expressing themselves in some way. Criticism at a vulnerable moment, hearing the message that their passion was “nonsense,” even mockery by cruel peers. Can you remember a moment like that? Are you ready to heal it? 

When you’re first becoming reacquainted with lost creativity, start loose. Pick up a piece of charcoal and draw something near you, aiming for big broad lines and approximate shapes rather than a carefully detailed copy. Let the lines be an expression of the thing rather than a depiction of it. Or, better yet, grab some colored pastels and just play! Experiment with lines and with blending with your finger. Mix weird colors together and see what happens. Sketch loads of little drawings, in whatever style you like, and only then decide if you’d rather tuck them away somewhere or put them on display (both are valid choices.) And as you play, try to keep those self-critical voices at bay. It can be hard and you may feel silly or uncomfortable, but keep pushing on. Past that discomfort is the bliss of creation. 

Earth Pigment Pastels:

Have you ever rubbed a small piece of reddish clay on a black stone to create a mark? Or picked up the charcoal from a cooled campfire and doodled a bit on a bare log? If so, you have already dipped your toes into the magic of earth pigments! That curiosity and exploration is a marvelous thing indeed, for wonder is often found in unexpected places. 

“The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.” - William Morris

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