My latest “Ah-ha” moment…

You can usually find me working at my easel, but that does not happen until my brain is set for the day.

Each morning before heading up to my second-floor art studio, I fix myself a pitcher of water and a healthy snack for later. This simple ritual triggers my miniature schnauzer Marcie to run up the stairs and straight for my art studio door. It is like she is keeping me accountable looking up at my studio hours. My schedule is flexible, but it visually helps others and myself to see my art making hours.

So, while my husband works away at his office and my son attends elementary school, I escape into my world of creativity.  I turn on music or enjoy the silence of my studio.

“Before I would start to create, I wrote a few pages in my journal.”

I began using a journal during my college years. Before I would start to create, I wrote a few pages in my journal.” I found The Artist’s Way  written by Julia Cameron at a used book store. Her book discusses how to write three mourning pages each day.  I found after writing on my pages I had increased creativity.

I empty all of my thoughts of gratitude or whatever comes to mind onto the page, and then my painting ideas and logical flow onto the next page. I did not realize at the time I was using my whole brain to think like an artist.

Now as a mom, I have read Dr. Dan Siegel’s, The Whole Brain Child.  This was a major “ah-ha” moment for me to have my creative practice clarified after all these years. Just like in Siegle’s book, I was experiencing the logical side of the brain that follows after emptying the emotional side of the brain.

Warning: Whole brain techniques will not work if you are tired and/or hungry at any age.

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Happy Journaling!

-Sandra