But it’s tough when the whole damn family are artistic geniuses, sometimes. Maybe I’ll just stick with bread, not that I can make money out of that, either. But my bread is often awesome and always good.

@Fi: Judgement is such a problematic area when it comes to creativity, isn’t it? I think that Julia Cameron quote is great. (Though maybe that’s because I’m a little bit obsessed with working through my personal relationship with judgement at the moment.) Complicated stuff. But I love that you have an actual macaroni necklace in your studio! That rocks.

Lean, what you’ve articulated here is SO important and yet so easy for us to forget. To grow and improve and develop in our creative skills, we have to experiment and practice and produce shitty trees (waving at Bridget). And yet, we feel bad when we see that. Kids don’t. They say, “Hey, mummy, look at this beeyootiful macaroni necklace I made for you! Will you wear it to work tomorrow?” And then they go on to greater things.

Was is Julia Cameron who said “Judging our initial artistic efforts is artist abuse”?

On the pinboard in my studio is a gold painted macaroni necklace my nephew gave me when he started school. It’s just taken on a whole new significance for me.

I never looked at that tree the same way after that.

I mean, it wasn’t a perfect tree, but for my first tree, it wasn’t that bad.

I’ve kept a turtle I made in that class, but I never went back to sculpture and that’s my loss.

We talk about the creative process, my children and I. My younger son, especially, likes to create. We talk about what we learn as we create, and what we enjoy as we create. I really want him to value the joy of creating as much as whatever “product” comes out of it. I think that happens naturally for him.

And so I am trying to learn that too. I’m trying to not be such a perfectionist and to enjoy my wabi sabi.