Creativity

Strange Habits and the Art of Polymer Clay

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Many, many years ago

when I lived alone with my dog, Gunther

I developed some strange habits.

Open packages of marshmallow Peeps

all over the place

slowly turning into Peep-jerky..

Dinner was often instant mashed potatoes straight out of the pot

drenched in ketchup.

I never used my oven for cooking…

just for baking all the little creatures I made out of Sculpey.

Not Trying and the Art of Failure

Illustrations from “Painting, Passion and the Art of Life” by Michele Bledsoe

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For many years

I had been trying to write a book..

but I failed.

.

Actually, I failed many times..

over and over again.

I had lost my way.

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Then I had a revelation..

an epiphany.

I was thinking too hard..

getting in my own way.

I was trying to write a book

instead of writing a book.

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Filled with renewed passion and purpose

I poured my soul out

onto those pages..

and it became

the book I was meant to write

instead of the book I was trying to write.

Big difference.

.Big Big difference.

Old Paintings and the Wondrous Elasticity of Time
Work in progress by Michele Bledsoe

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It has been many years since I’ve worked on this painting.

Maybe even a decade.

Yet, here at my easel..

it could have been yesterday.

I remember everything.

I dive in without hesitation..

effortlessly matching the subtle shades

of complex color

perfectly.

Seems I have never left you.

Trust the gift.

Painting and the Art of Losing Control
Psalm 151 by Michele Bledsoe

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Sitting at my easel painting,

everything is moving along as expected..

then suddenly I’m using the wrong color

the wrong brush.

I am adding strange objects..

lines twisting across my canvas

in bold, strong strokes..

I have lost control.

I never fight these impulses..

this is what happens

when God steps in.