The outer child

I was tidying up my room today, when I uncovered
Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way. I'd once used
the book extensively for a course on creativity,
and have referred to it many times because I
teach journal writing. So my copy is heavily
underlined. Flipping through it today I found
a section on creating a welcoming space for your
inner artist child.

I frequently think my "child" is always on the
"outside". Maybe that's common to all artists,
I don't know. But I decided to give that child
a break today, and listen to what she wanted.
Crazy kid wanted to fool around with watercolours.
So I let her go. Let me tell you she's forgotten
a lot in her acrylic years. But we followed
Cameron's instructions and played. I was
drawn to a bowl of apples my son bought,
that look more like the colour of nectarines.
They can't last much longer, and I thought
I'd better catch their magnificent colour right away.

Watercolour of strange apples
steps one, two, three and four
1.painting the apples
2. Laying in the wash for the
shadow part of the bowl.
3.Putting down the colour
for the non-shadow
side.
4. Adding the stems and
some detailing.

The results so far are less than impressive, but
wow -- it sure was fun, and the kid in me,
and the kid I always am had a good time.

Have a taking-care-of-your-inner-and-outer-child day.