No Seriously, Play!

Years ago, I was looking forward to babysitting my friend's niece. I wanted to do something fun with her and remembered my mom painting our front window with big colorful images for the holidays. She'd draw her idea with a piece of soap on the glass then fill in the picture with tempera paint. After the holiday she'd wash the whole thing off with a little warm water. I thought it was like magic, so I decided to recreate it for my new young friend.

We spent the evening mixing paints, reading to each other, and creating the most beautiful window art! I was taken with the magic of painting in such a playful impermanent way  and proceeded to paint the rest of my windows the next day!

Who knew that a childhood memory and babysitting activity could lead to my career!

Sometimes you just need to play a little to change up your perspective and maybe even find new passion in your life. Recently, when I was thinking of artwork I wanted for my dining room, I thought back to those first windows (I've been painting windows and found objects every since) and decided to try something fun again.

I grabbed some chalk and threw together a little "daily specials" inspired board.

[caption id="attachment_2858" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="See my first chalk piece way back there in the background?"][/caption]

Next thing you know I'm obsessed with chalk and playing with all the ways the pigment can be moved around my canvas. I'm working on this piece now with a series and maybe even some decorative pillows in mind...

Letting go of criticism and pressure can do some amazing things! And you never know where a little fun might take you, so do something this week that makes you smile.