Starting a Creativity Circle...
I had been pondering the idea of bringing together a small group of friends to create and have an inviting place to explore. I envisioned a monthly gathering called "Creating Eve" (most likely a weeknight evening) for a group of six women to meet at my home in our sunroom art studio. Each gathering would have a different theme or focus, such as "love," "gratitude," or "intention," based on the changing seasons or the group's interests. I would introduce a project at each meeting, using a variety of materials or art forms, with no prior art experience required. Sessions could include creating visual collages or journals, rock painting, watercolor painting handmade cards, paper folding, and jewelry making. We would sip tea, maybe share a baked treat or two, and settle into a dedicated time just for us to create and connect.
In February of 2017, five of my friends joined me to form our first Creativity Circle! We decided to meet Monday mornings (rather than in the evening) for about two hours, once a month, when our children were off at school. We gathered together eight times (taking a break during the summer holidays) and truly benefited from making the time and space as women to create and connect. From our interactions and creations, new ideas and possibilities emerged. We became more clear about what brought us joy, what we were missing or yearning for, and experienced the simple pleasure of making something that spoke to our spirit and revealed another part of who we were — beyond our many roles of mother, daughter, wife, and friend. This year of creating together brought me such joy. I am grateful that my lovely, courageous, and thoughtful friends joined me on this journey! I invite you to start your own Creativity Circle... feel free to use any of the ideas below as a jumping-off point. I would love to hear about your experiences, too!
February - LOVE
For our first meeting in February, the theme I chose was LOVE. To kick off our Creativity Circle, I thought it would be inspiring to start by making a visual journal, map, or collage. I gathered a collection of magazines for creative inspiration, allowing us to tear out great images and quotes about what matters most to us, what we love, or what we may aspire to or yearn for. This is a fantastic way to recycle cards, magazines, bits of beautiful wrapping paper, or memorabilia you've been saving. I provided large sheets of drawing paper and invited everyone to bring a bound or three-ring journal or sketchbook with blank paper, if they preferred. Some chose to organize their ideas by theme or color, while others chose by emotion or life event. It can be illuminating to look back months or even years later to recall what you were passionate about during a specific time in your life. I started my first visual journal more than 20 years ago, toward the end of graduate school, and I'm astounded at how many of the images or words still ring true to me today and have become a reality, as I had hoped...
March/April - INTENTION
Our March/April gathering allowed us to welcome spring to Seattle at last! During this much-anticipated time of transition, marked by new growth, trees and flowers in bloom (and hopefully more sun and milder weather), I chose the theme of INTENTION. I selected an activity that was both grounding and expressive. We created and drew personal mandalas, which proved to be an excellent way to become clearer about our intentions for our lives. The word "mandala" is derived from the Indian language of Sanskrit and can be translated to mean "circle," signifying wholeness, and for us, it was a reminder of our own Creativity Circle. Designing your mandala can be both a meditative and spiritual art form, where you start at the center and work your way outward with shapes, colors, and forms that express your sense of self. We enjoyed watching one another's mandalas come to life as we first sketched with pencil, used assorted stencils, then added color, and some chose to outline with black ink. Shapes were organic or geometric, colors were bright or muted — uniquely individual, like each one of us.
May - GROUNDED
In May, we collected smoothly worn rocks from our local Puget Sound shores for a down-to-earth, GROUNDED activity of rock painting. I pulled out all my acrylic paints, collection of brushes, and ordered some absolutely fantastic new paint markers (Uni Posca fine point and Faber-Castell PITT black artist pens) for more detailed artwork on the stones. After thoroughly washing and drying the stones, each person took turns selecting shapes and sizes that spoke to them. A friend and I printed out some diverse rock painting examples from Pinterest for inspiration and practice, and we dove in! (Note: I don't have room here to credit all the wonderful images we found, so please refer to my Pinterest page under Art + Design Projects, if you're curious.) We typically painted a base layer first, then added other colors or designs with paint pens, and detailed work and lettering with fine-point markers. Once the paint had dried, we applied a liquid multi-purpose sealer, allowing us to display the rocks outside in our gardens or on our porches. Great for inspirational messages and as gifts!
June - BEAUTY
Our June get-together was our final Creativity Circle before taking a summer sabbatical, while the kiddos were out of school. I chose the theme of BEAUTY, which has so many powerful meanings... from being kind to one another, reveling in the natural beauty all around us, observing strength, and taking joy in creating things that are beautiful to us. With so many gorgeous flowers in bloom, I thought it might be fun to do some paper crafting and create different types of paper flowers. We tried a combination of techniques, from paper folding and cutting to working with crepe paper and wire. I hadn't made paper flowers since I was a child, so I spent a lot of time researching and watching online tutorials. Once again, Pinterest and our local Magnolia library were invaluable resources for exploring all sorts of amazing paper flower crafts. After creating our initial bright, colorful bouquets of paper flowers, one of our group had the brilliant idea to make extra flowers to present to teachers as end-of-year presents. My boys' teachers told us they loved receiving some gorgeous blooms that wouldn't wilt or fade...
September - FRIENDSHIP
It was a breath of fresh air to gather together after a long summer for our September Creativity Circle. I thought it might be fun to do an art project that reminded us of our own back-to-school days each fall (but without all the homework!) and focused on the theme of FRIENDSHIP. One of my fondest childhood memories was making "friendship bracelets," and with macrame and weaving being back in vogue, I found some really great tutorials for how to make lovely woven bracelets. We tried out two styles... first, we braided cotton or hemp string into a double loop and finished with metal findings. For the second, we practiced hand-weaving with long strips of recycled jersey/t-shirts in a neutral cream, gray with silver sparkly stripes, classic nautical blue and white striped, and a tie-dyed fuchsia. I think this second method was by far my favorite, because it was literally so "hands-on" and fun to watch something woven appear in full form so quickly. That same afternoon, my nine-year-old son easily learned the skill and made a handful as presents for the family.
October - HYGGE
Our theme for October was HYGGE, a Danish word that describes a way of living characterized by a combination of coziness, charm, security, familiarity, comfort, kinship, simplicity, and contentment. I had recently read “The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living” by Meik Wiking of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen. It’s a gem of a book, quite small, yet it truly speaks to what many of us crave this time of year, as the days shorten, it gets cooler, and we spend more time indoors with one another. I grew up with a similar way of living in Germany called “Gemütlichkeit," so taking the time to create a heartwarming, convivial space has always been important to me (candles, baking, interior design). A perfect place to inject more “hygge” in our lives was during our Creativity Circle! For our creative art project, we took our time painting watercolor cards, postcards, and bookmarks for friends and family, and then we used stamps and heat embossing to add texture and sparkle. We selected from metallic and solid powders that we sprinkled over the stamp and melted to reveal beautiful embossed images. And, naturally, we enjoyed tea and cake…
November - GRATITUDE
Our theme or intention for November was GRATITUDE, so it worked out perfectly that we met the week before the Thanksgiving holiday break for our Creativity Circle. A fellow member had some darling small papier-mâché pumpkins that she offered to share with us, and we had a great time creating our découpage “gratitude” pumpkins. We decorated them with paper or magazine cutouts, which we then adhered to the pumpkins using Mod Podge glaze. We discovered that painting a thin layer of the adhesive with the paintbrush first created a nice base, and then we added two or three more layers to achieve a smooth, matte finish. You can also choose a glaze with a shiny finish, if you prefer. Several of us covered our pumpkins with all things “Thanksgiving” and used them as part of our home décor for the holiday. Another decided she wanted it to symbolize all the things she loved and was grateful for, and gave it to her daughter as a present. I was so thankful and blessed to come together with these dear friends each month to create!
December - PEACE
For our December circle gathering, which was right in the middle of holiday madness, yet also a spiritual time of light and joy, our theme was PEACE. I thought it would be lovely to make something that we could either give as gifts or use as stocking stuffers, or keep for ourselves for pampering during the holidays when we needed a moment of quiet, solace, and peace. We created handmade, all-natural beauty products: two lip balms (chocolate mint and raspberry lemonade), lip sugar scrub (brown sugar, coconut & vanilla), and a natural skin luminizer (shimmery white pearl mica glow for the holidays!) Together, we melted and mixed the organic ingredients (shea butter, beeswax, coconut oil, essential oils, etc.), then poured them into their molds or containers, and finally decorated the containers. I had some fun washi tape, and we designed custom brown paper labels. It was truly special to end our year together on this high note... When we met again in the new year, we transformed our Circle gatherings into an open art studio and got together every couple of months to explore new projects.
