While on an intense purging binge recently, I found an old charcoal sketch dating way back to my high school years. Previously, I had shared it with friends, then promptly packed it away. Memories came flooding back about the strictness of the art classes I suffered through. The anxiety to follow the teacher’s lesson plan and produce perfect results always impacted my desire to express myself outside the artistic box. While sitting in the midst of a pile of items, trying to decide what would stay or go, I opened my high school art case. As I rummaged through the paint-stained wooden case, my inspiration suddenly grabbed hold of me and I found my charcoal sticks and a collection of brushes and paints. The smell of linseed oil and streaks of yellow and blue oil paint inside the case reminded me that I was wrong to think that any expression of art required absolute neatness or perfect precision. These many, many, years later, I’ve come to realize that raw emotion matters so much more.

At this point in time, my focus is on my imagination which encourages me to delve into textures, bordering on the abstract, with a mixture of thick colors, on a brush which hits the canvas like a conductor leading an orchestra. Whether painting or sketching, in all the time that’s passed, art allows me to process complex feelings without using words, as I do each time I write here on my website. Creating something new helps to minimize my daily stress and any mistakes now feel like beautiful new opportunities rather than failures.

That one old sketch was an important reminder on how creating, anything, should be done without regimentation or fear.

From the Writer’s Workshop: Write a post in exactly twelve (12) lines. Tell us about someone in your family who has artistic ability. Share an old photo and let it inspire a blog post.