Tell the negative committee that meets inside your head to sit down and shut up.”- Ann Bradford

I like to think of myself as an optimistic person but that doesn’t mean I’m void of negative thoughts and feelings. Lately I’ve been wishing I had a stop button to turn off that part of my brain, especially when those nasty little demons play havoc with my creativity.

It was during this recent contemplation that I decided on my next creative project. I needed a place to metaphorically transition any negativity; a journal. Not a ‘dear diary’ type of journal but rather a creative space to have fun and let go.

So I pulled out the blank A3, hard bound sketchbook from the back of my art drawers and decided to create a collage on the first page. I was inspired by a piece called ‘apple 12093‘ by Nancy Standlee. I’d pinned it to my ‘creative inspiration’ board as I was drawn to the pops of colour, text and joy the work radiated for me. And that is what I wanted for my first page.

It was a simply cut and paste affair which ever since I was a young girl I have found very meditative. The text I’d cut from an old magazine and are inspiring and poignant stories of other peoples lives. The quote reads –

I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.” – Edward Everett Hale

The little reminder I needed to tell that negative committee to sit down and shut up.

Until next week… happy painting!

What do you do to help with your creative process?