The Art Habit

By Shelley Klammer

I am enamoured with creativity as a daily spiritual practice. When my daughter was little I wanted to take a break from painting. I felt blocked as an artist so I decided to write a small poem everyday for a year. The little black journal that I filled during that time still surprises me. It was the first time I had committed to practicing something everyday, even when I did not feel like it.

I devised rituals around writing. I made cinnamon tea. I ate an oatmeal cookie. I dozed by the fire, waiting for the poetry to come. I wrote winter poems about bare trees and frozen feelings. I wrote summer poems. I “watched time”. I contemplated fruit and the “spell of mountains”. I reflected on motherhood, love, anger and confusion. It was my first taste of going deeply into the creative process.

I was finding my way back to my original mind that was ever below all the shoulds in my life. I was becoming at one with the movement of my own heart. This was not always easy. I would often reach or grasp for something to express so I just let myself say anything so as to have some sort of poem for the day. I wrote lots of “bad” poetry. Yet looking back, some of it is actually quite good. Crackling with raw feeling and heart aching shadows.

It is a relief to realize that I cannot be great at what I do all the time. Creating everyday wears down my cherished image of myself. Sometimes what I create is awkward or ugly. That is a good thing. It humbles me. I am alive. I am messy. I have to express something. It can be good or bad. There is a freedom in that. At some point I become a spiritual artist, and life moves through me in it’s imperfect, perfect way.

I love to devise all sorts of creative practices and then commit to them for a period of time to see how they will deepen my life. I might record my dreams for six months, or write a page in my journal each day, or draw my hands for a month. It enlarges self-trust when I keep my commitments to myself. Through each time period of creative practice I digest the truth of my life a little bit more.

I follow my curiosities to see where they will lead me. For the past several years I have been doing meditative intuitive drawings. I am curious to see what I will draw when I empty my mind and let the pen move freely. It is a sort of daily doodling practice. Collage is another daily practice. When my life feels too busy I try to touch into my collage or art journal. Even if I only have time to add one small thing to the page, a torn image, a few poignant words, a splatter of pink, it builds richness over time and speaks to what I am feeling, thinking and longing for.

Oh the art life. It is a good life. Much of my art as a daily practice is not shown to anyone. Yet when I read my art journals I see that even during the darkest times I have chosen to live my life vibrantly. I have made my mark. I have moved through that which oppresses me into a fresh and original life that I can truly call my own. •

© Shelley Klammer, 2006. All rights reserved.

About the Author | More by Shelley Klammer
Shelley Klammer is a Registered Professional Counselor and an Expressive Art Facilitator. She offers an array of online expressive art courses that explore the melding of art, psychology and spirituality. You can learn more about her work and take a variety of courses at www.expressiveartworkshops.com.

9/8/06