The Art of/and Wintering
Creativity in The Winter
Can our art making flourish in those darker winter months?
“There is no light without shadow, just as there is no happiness without pain”
Animals hibernate in the winter to get themselves ready for the grand spring time of resurgence and energy. Nature’s inner wisdom allows for this pause as the days get shorter. Artists have traditionally loved the winter months where they can go into their caves/studios and have time for reflection and a slowing down. It’s a time for surrender and soulfulness. It is in the stillness and self reflection that ideas percolate.
Vincent Van Gogh painted his “Landscape with Snow” in 1888 during his stay at Arles. More than the feeling of the winter landscape, it depicts the aloneness of a man with his dog walking across the fields.
In the winter of 1874, Monet painted 18 paintings depicting the heavy snow at Argenteuil that year.
And then there is the abstract expressionist, Frankenthaler (below) depicting the hunt of the fox in the winter in this haunting way.
Art Projects to try out in the winter
The Art Process Studio has many interesting downloadable projects to do over the winter at home. You DO NOT have to have ANY ART EXPERIENCE to do these courses. Appropriate for ALL ages! You will be guided step by step through each fun innovative project. Under my calming guidance you will gain creative non-judgmental freedom with the confidence to create more and more.
Each project comes with a list of simple materials to purchase and a lifetime access to an instructional video which you can stop and start whenever you want.
The following may be fun to try:
Do you need to be an artist to create art?
If we follow the reasoning above, it follows that ANYONE can be creative and make art given the right stimulation and circumstance. That is why The Art Process Method is so successful. It encourages and exercises that creative muscle, taking the self criticism out of the picture (a sure way to deaden creativity!) By incorporating meditation and self inquiry into the creative process, it opens the doorways to your unique vision and self expression!
