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It’s an excuse to buy more notebooks. And art notebooks have the kind of wonderfully thick and toothy paper that I always have trouble finding in a writer’s notebook. My favorite notebooks right now are Moleskine watercolor sketchbooks. The 16 x 12 is so impractical, but I love it so much.
![IMG_2162[1].JPG](https://thedirigibleplum.files.wordpress.com/2016/06/img_21621.jpg?w=2016&h=1512)
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The supplies! The amazing supplies! I have so many new obsessions: Faber Pitt Pens, Prang watercolor paints, stamps, washi tape, Gelly Roll pens. (The index card was created with washi tape and a little watercolor.)
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I have a child’s mind when it comes to art: I think everything I make is interesting. It turns out that it’s really unusual as an adult to make things that we simply celebrate and appreciate and accept without criticism or judgment. I can’t even cook a simple meal without thinking of ways to make it better next time. But with art, I have no expectations and no self-imposed pressure. I am comfortable exploring, following a line and seeing what happens. The paint splatters and drips in unpredictable and unanticipated ways, and I’m comfortable accepting that.
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I didn’t think I could draw, but it turns out EVERYBODY CAN DRAW! Even me! These index cards are for Daisy Yellow’s Index Card a Day Creativity Challenge. Some day, they’ll end up in my art journal.
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Art journal websites are gorgeous and so inspiring: I spend a few minutes browsing posts at Daisy Yellow or Balzer Designs and I want to go make something.
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Art is a way to keep playing as a grown-up. Writing feels like work. Art feels like play.
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It’s a healing form of self-care. My son has been sitting down to draw, paint, and create too, and his mood entirely changes over the hour or so he makes stuff. This is his crayon drip art. I helped peel the crayons and offered some glueing advice.
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There are cool classes to take. Artists are generous! There are so many free tutorials available and so many reasonably prices self-paced courses to learn more. I’m taking Julie Fei-Fan Balzer’s 30 Days in Your Journal class right now, and I look forward to each day’s tutorial.
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Some things I can’t write. Well, I could write them, but then the words are there for anyone to read. It’s more accurate to say I won’t write them. Still, the feelings and thoughts are there, wanting to find a way out. Art is a way to process and create and make from the most difficult places, places that words can’t and won’t go.
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It puts me in the mindset of being a beginner, which I think is a valuable thing for a teacher.
the dirigible plum 
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