Micro-Creating (or Chocolate in the Name of Art)

Creating doesn't have to be a convoluted process. Often I intimidate myself by thinking it needs to be all or nothing. It doesn't.

These micro-creations were completed in ten minutes or less, maybe even five.

Matisse-inspired Easter egg wrapper girl (she needs a name - any ideas?)

materials: chocolate Easter egg foil wrapper on the back of a printed notepad sheet

My boss had a bowl of chocolate mini Easter eggs wrapped in foil at the office. Inspired by Matisse's "papiers collés" I chose a blue one, a yellow one and voilà! Easter egg wrapper girl is born. She spent about a week loosely put together on my desk until I finally ripped a sheet out of my notepad and pulled out a glue stick to make sure I didn't lose any pieces. I plan to hang her on my cubicle wall. Chocolate in the name of art.

my living room picture window and curtains

materials: black writing pen and a blank paper journal that was sitting on my shelf

The window above was sketched in about two minutes I spent sitting on the couch waiting for Sis to come join me at home before going for a walk. It's nothing fancy, but it's something. This micro "sketch-what-you-see" idea is directly from Week 4 of Julia Cameron's Walking in this World, and when it comes to creativity Ms Cameron knows her stuff!

Matisse-inspired sitck figure jumble (or Étude de Stick Figure)

materials: mechanical pencil on the back of daily calendar pages

Finally, to give myself a breather at the office between two tasks I pulled out a pile of old daily calendar pages and went to it. Inspired by Matisse's figures I quickly drew stick figures in a variety of positions, trying to figure out where the limbs would go, in which order and in which direction. A five-minute blitz resulted in 13 stick figures I can now study and play with on canvas.

Creating doesn't have to be an all or nothing process. Sometimes a mere few minutes is all you need.

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How do you build micro-creating in your day? And if you don't at the moment, how could you?