Celebrating Creativity

Last week a friend shared a story with me about how her creative longings had nearly been crushed by the judgement of others. We laughed and dried our eyes as she recalled this tale…

When she was a child she loved to work with clay. Sadly her art teacher was quite ruthless. All the artworks she deemed unfit for firing were tossed into the clay recycling pile and my friend’s had never survived. Each time she created something - with attention and care, hoping it would be considered worthy of firing - it was scrapped.

Years later, when she was at university, she saw an evening course advertised; 8 weeks of hand-building with clay. Despite her childhood disappointments, she still longed to make clay artworks, so filled with hope, she enrolled.

After only 3 classes, the instructor came to her and suggested my friend ‘stick to pinch pots’. Clearly, he didn’t merit her work with much skill or ingenuity.

Once again, her efforts at creativity were dismissed.

Many years later my friend decided that the results of that 8-week course - one ashtray and 2 pinch pots - needed to be disposed of. Sadly she took them outside to the bin that was standing on the street waiting to be collected and placed them inside, on top of the other rubbish.

Half an hour later she happened to be near the window when the garbage truck pulled up. She observed the driver hopping out and removing the lid on her household’s bin. When he saw her ceramics, he reached in and lifted out the ashtray. He considered it carefully, smiled and then stowed it on his dashboard.

My friend’s heart filled with pleasure to see this man unexpectedly treasuring her artwork - celebrating her creativity.

Many of us have a memory like this of our creative expression being devalued or derided, and it hurts. Perhaps for you, it was singing in a choir, performing a dance, painting, or acting.

Although my friend had given up believing her artworks had intrinsic value, this story reminds us that, all creative work, regardless of its aesthetic merits, has value. And that aesthetic merit is highly subjective. Being creative is a profound and risk-taking process - one that should always be celebrated.

I had the immense privilege recently of facilitating two painting retreats at Glen Davis. A total of twenty artists, including beginners, brought their enthusiasm, hopes and dreams to the Capertee Valley to develop their painting skills, meet other like-minded people, immerse in the stunning location, practice yoga, meditate and bushwalk. We ate great food, laughed and shared stories together.

It was life-affirming, and inspiring and I’m thrilled to say that everyone wants to do it again! Below are some pictures of our time together and some of the artworks they made. 

You can read first-hand what they had to say about the retreat here.

And if this story has touched you, reach out and let me know - I love hearing from you!