A Letter from the Atlantic Coast
Ericeira, Portugal
When I step out of the car, the sea air surrounds me. My body softens, and I’m filled with a warm, fuzzy feeling.
I’ve returned to Portugal, and the light has waited for me. I go to the beach and wade into the ocean. I watch the surfers play and set out a plan to take a beginner’s surf lesson, inviting myself to step out of my comfort zone. I sit in the square each morning to drink coffee and write in my journal. Nourished by the sun, I reflect on the whirlwind energy of the past few months, inviting more of it.
I feel the pull to slow down, to center myself, to clear my energy. I think about the idea that creativity doesn’t come from us, but through us. The muse, the creative unconscious, the conduit, the river beneath the river, the creative spark. Let me open the channel, even more.
‘Be wild; that is how to clear the river. The river does not flow in polluted, we manage that. The river does not dry up, we block it. If we want to allow it its freedom, we have to allow our ideational lives to be let loose, to stream, letting anything come, initially censoring nothing. That is a creative life. It is made up of divine paradox.’
—Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women who Run with the Wolves
Drawing is a way of thinking, being, and playing. We can try something new, engage our bodies, and get started without knowing the outcome. We can make something unexpected and have fun doing it.
Join me for Experimental Drawing, a 28-day course in unconventional mark-making. You’ll receive 4 weeks of guidance ~ 28 exercises, 4 creative lessons, 4 art history lessons, and 4 reflections. Share work, get feedback, and discuss your creative process in the course chat within the Experimental Practice WhatsApp community. In the third week of the course, I'll host a live Zoom session providing a review and discussion of work.
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