During my adolescence and early adulthood, I had ups and downs with depression. Sometimes it was a quiet sadness.  Other times it manifested itself in angry tears.  In high school, I could mold myself to fit in with all the groups and be a friend to everyone, but I didn’t really fit in anywhere.  I excelled in school because it was a distraction from the building pain inside.  There weren’t blogs then to show me how “normal” this was and I couldn’t just run a Google search to find a healthy an outlet for my pain.

Much of my sadness was lack of direction.  I could sense no real purpose when I thought of my future and I felt completely stuck.  I have always had large dreams and those, in contrast to my everyday life, felt unattainable.  Besides medication and self-care, it has always been through creative outlets that I have felt healing.

I’ve thought about the connection between creativity and depression so much over the years, reading about artists’ experiences and noting my own.  Many artists are extra sensitive to stimuli and notice feelings, textures, and expressions that may pass others right by (HSP anyone??).  The basic need to create comes out of that noticing, I think.  For me, it is a means of expression and a release of those painful or lonely experiences.  It is a way of forming something tangible when so much within is not.  It is a healing of my own hurts.

Pain can manifest itself into poetry, art, music, writing.  These mediums bring the blur of life back into focus.  They bring purpose, catharsis, and meaning.  And there is an instant knowing for me when I read David Foster Wallace’s essays or a poem that echoes the longing I sometimes feel within.  Much of my own depressive episodes are lost to me now… I simply can’t remember so much of those times.  But I’m still the same person and so I feel an obligation, as well as a need, to tap into that sensitive, creative source within and sprinkle whatever I find there onto my art canvases.

Now I am coming from a perspective of happiness when creating my art.  The tunes are on, the windows are open, and I am fulfilled.

I’m curious about your experience and ideas on the connection between creativity and depression (or any illness really).  Share your thoughts below.

One small project I did last week was to take these 8×8 cards with the lyrics to our wedding song (“Someone Like You” by Van Morrison) and put them in our bedroom.  We had nothing on the wall behind our bed yet.

Maybe you remember the way they used to be when they were hung in our living room…

First step, carefully removing the paper from the frames (I’d had to glue them).  In case you are wondering, I had them designed and printed here.

My daughter used the frame backs for her art project last week.

Unprimed cradle board is about $1 at Michaels.  I painted the cradle board sides and used used Mod Podge (glossy) to adhere the lyrics.

Here’s how it looks over our bed.  Hanging it was surprisingly simple – I used an iPhone app to level them (what will they think of next??) and two nails for each so they won’t move around.

If you try it, just remember to use something to get the air bubbles out.  I used my brayer, but really anything would work.  :)

I’m still on track with my Life Book class, which is no small feat! A new lesson pops into my inbox every Sunday evening for the entire year and each is so different from the last.  April brought classes from Tamera, Aimee Myers Dolich, Joann Loftus, and Dawn DeVries Sokol. And how about the fact that we are already 1/3 through the year?!?

“A Series of Quirky Birds” with Tamara Laporte

I did a separate post about this project already.  It was about the concept of ‘grounding’ and connecting with some of your favourite lyrics/ prose/ poetry/ quotes and incorporating them into the lesson.

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“Let’s Get Inky” with Aimee Myers Dolich

I was very excited about this one because I absolutely love Aimee’s Artsyville creations and have purchased them for my house and for gifts.  If you don’t know of her, please check out the link above.  Such color and whimsical fun!

Family… friendships… fun… jobs… health… fears… these are the things and feelings and events that create our lives.  Aimee says, “we’ll make a riotous mess of color to make collages out of our thoughts and words to create a paper snapshot of the complex layers of our wonderful lives as we are living them.”

As Aimee says, we did “a lot of thinking and then a lot of inking.”

“Let Your Light Shine” with Joann Loftus

We used tissue paper and paint to create a stained-glass window effect honoring the light within us as well as the precious gifts we have each been given.  It was very tedious and time-consuming but Joann is very humorous and fun to listen to and I really love how it came out.

Joanne says, “When we take our gifts out of the box … and decide to make something of our talents, they become greater than the sum of each part.  They become our sparkling genius!”

How to: Plan the window design.  To create the crystalline papers, lay out pieces of tissue paper, mod podge both sides, paint various colors.  Cut pieces of the hardened colors to fit into the design.  Finish with Scribbles 3D fabric paint.

“A Page of Affirmations” with Dawn DeVries Sokol

This one is pretty self-explanatory I think!

During a painting project one afternoon a couple of weeks ago, everything was moving along smoothly until I went to the sink to wash my brushes.  I was away from the table for 30 seconds at the most and this is what I came back to…

So now we mostly do our projects in the backyard.  :)

She had claimed these picture frame backs and decorated them with princess tape but then she wanted to paint them.  Perhaps you can tell which are mine and which are hers? A true mixed-media artist (emphasis on the second syllable please… art-EEst), my sweet girl started pouring sand onto the paint.  Then water.

Keep in mind that while she is doing all this, I am working very hard on restraining myself from intervening.  After all, she’s wearing her paint clothes and we’re outside, right? Still, it was tough for me!

I actually thought this sand look was pretty cool.  Then she started adding wet sand.  Ugh.

Nothing like a hot lava look, right? It was a very cool process to watch.  Just her flow of ideas and her actions were interesting.  I’m proud of myself that I could get out of the way and enjoy her creations.  :) Plus, the grass looks pretty colorful now.

And I’ve saved the best for last.

Neat, right? So clever!

Have a lovely weekend, friends! Thanks for being here.

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This is the second year (I think) that Lori Moon is hosting her May Flower Challenge, an entire month of posts all dedicated to those little beauties that brighten our gardens.  I participated last year a few times, on Friday, and today I’m excited to join again.

I didn’t think beyond actual flowers themselves until Lori pointed out that artwork of flowers counts too! Here are some recent projects of mine that feature flowers.

Sunshine and Flowers

Journey

 Goals and Journey

New Blooms

Link up to Lori’s flower challenge or head over to her site to see more blooms!

For this project, I used the one at the far right in the photo above.  I covered the original panels with gesso and then added some background papers, paint, and I started doodling.

I was excited to try using glass beads to add some dimension.

And here’s a before and after.  We have Salvation Army’s $1.99 piece on the left and the one now hanging in my kitchen on the right:

I always enjoy being part of Kat’s Photo-Heart Connection and visiting the other participants’ blogs.  Haven’t done it before? You can learn more about how to find your Photo-Heart Connection here.

I never really considered that one could be creative in gardening just as much as in painting or mixed media work, but when I came across the quotation above on the exact same day that I drove past these lovely purple flowers hanging over a fence, it got my mind going.  I had to turn around, stop the car, and snap a picture.  Something about their delicate loveliness spoke to me.  I started thinking about creating a sort of calming space in various areas of our backyard and driveway with plants and flowers, somehow invoking the same feeling I got when I drove past these purple flowers… one of peace, purposefulness, and welcome.

This is my way to combine my Photo-Heart Connection post with a garden update!  I’ve wanted to bring in some interest and color to our space, so I got these windchimes as my first new additions.  The one on the left is made of recycled wine bottles (that lowest blue circle is the bottom of the bottle) and the one on the right was handmade in India.

To add interest to a blank wall, I added these decorative trellises (or would it be trelli?).  I have lots of boring areas just like this one was so if you have any other ideas, I’m all ears.

Just adding color to our containers made a huge difference.

My favorite new addition is a peach tree.  We already have a little one growing! It’s in a perfect location to be able to see it from several areas of our house.

We enter the house from the side door off the driveway, so having that area be more welcoming was my primary focus.  I have had these iron flowers for about a year and a half now and they have been leaning against this wall with their price tags on the entire time.  Pathetic.  (I got them half price at Marshalls Home Goods because some of their jewels had fallen off – easily fixed.)  I need to get one more and figure out how to incorporate some color into this space around our door.  I may have to (gasp!) paint those wood beams.

I added this green shelf last year (see that post here) and it’s been sitting rather neglected ever since July when the heat pretty much did all the plants in.  This time I am focusing on the decor and adding only a few plants.  Those are in larger planters with moisture-retention soil, whatever that is.

My other new addition this year… a welcoming line of pinwheels and flowers along the driveway.  Luckily, these get whatever rainfall comes their way, so I don’t really have too many to remember to water.
Our rose, hibiscus, and agapanthus plants are looking luscious.  I’ve been enjoying a new rose a day in our kitchen window.

I decided to try this trellis idea one more time before abandoning it.  Last year, because the pots didn’t have drainage, they became cesspools of nastiness.  So I carved holes into the bottoms this time and planted mandevillia again.

Our front yard got a color update too.

So that’s it! I hope you enjoyed my tour.  Click here to view my other Photo-Heart connection posts.

Linking this to Lori Moon’s May Flower Challenge too.

Let me see if I can convey to you how out of touch I am with my word this year.  Um… I am writing this the night before the blog hop and I can’t for the life of me remember what my word is! Did you hear me? I can’t even remember my word!  Oh dear.  This is not good, folks!

My mind has been totally preoccupied with selecting window coverings and an area rug for the house and watching the gazillion videos in Christy Tomlinson’s Behind the Art class.   Those are the opposite of stillness (my word)!

Anyhow, welcome to this month’s One Little Word bloghop.   If you’ve come from Kelly’s blog, you are in the right place.  This month Ali asked us to connect our word with photographs.

I find that I’m most at peace in nature or when forgetting myself in an art project.

Hop along to visit Jackie next.

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You can see other posts about my OLW project here.  Enjoy hopping along!

Lee: thelinarstudio.typepad.com

Margareta: paperpilekitten.com

Missus Wookie: mrswookieswanderings.blogspot.com

Cheri: cheriandrews.blogspot.com

Lisa: Backtoallen.com

Michelle: table-for-five.com

Melanie: mellybirddesigns.wordpress.com

Kelly: septemberblue.net

Naomi: poeticaperture.com  <— you are here

Jackie: blog.jacquelinewolven.com  <— go here next

Nikki: www.inkyart.com.au/

Ruth: suburbansahm.blogspot.com

For her card, I used some sewing/quilting scrapbook papers.

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For my adorable nephew’s first birthday…

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For one of my daughter’s friends…

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Those last two were created with mostly My Mind’s Eye papers.  And on the back of them all, this cute little stamp signed “me.”

I shot this the morning of an art festival, just as people were beginning to arrive.  Isn’t it lovely?

This little guy was at an Earth Day celebration.

Our backyard roses are showing their stunning beauty.

My daughter and I spent an afternoon outside splatter painting a huge canvas for her room.

This is the building in which I used to spend most of my days, before my daughter was born.  It was odd to be at the park nearby with her and to look up and see it.  She is interested in my life pre-her but not enough to stop playing!