we take the same road often

We use to take the same roads again and again, literally and also in our painting process. We take the paint, the colors and the surface that we’re familiar with and everything’s going well. But, sometimes it’s better to do something completely new. Or, do it in a way you’ve never done before. Have you ever painted with your ‘wrong hand’, with your eyes closed or upside down (the last thing I do very often when teaching the children their art lessons so that’s already normal to me).

get lost sometimes

For me it works to be a bit messy when I’m working… or a bit confusion can bring a lot of new things. I had a very special moment this year that best describes what I mean. I was walking in the forest with a good friend of mine a couple of weeks ago. She told me she wasn’t able to walk a long distance because her hurting knee so we stayed close to the entrance. Normally we walk straight into the forest as fast as we can, but now we stayed close to the parking place. The path was filled with autumn leaves. Everything looked different.

At a sudden moment we completely failed to see the path we’re walking on. We kept walking for 5 or 10 minutes with no idea where we had to go, while we were not a 15 minutes away from our starting point. Of course, I could pick up my cell phone and navigate back to the path. But we  just enjoyed being lost. It was so long ago when I found myself that blank. The magic broke when we saw our path again. We embraced each other and were so surprised about this shared magical moment! Not knowing where you are can be so refreshing!

try something new

So, look for places you haven’t been before, or just go another route than you use to do. So, take a palette you don’t use often, use a different material or technique, go to a museum… Do an online painting workshop (ours will be launched very soon!) to get inspired again! Or simply take a walk and describe all the new things you see.