111 Day Artistic Spirit Pledge: Spiritual Growth Through Creative Expression
Day 101: Creativity Over Tea
Once again, today’s creative inspiration came courtesy of my toddler-age niece. She informed me of her desire to have a tea party with me, and I instantly envisioned stuffed animals, plastic tea sets, and frilly hats. Instead, she pointed me to the curio cabinet that held actual, and breakable, teacups and matching saucers. One was a gift from her grandmother and the other arrived via a jolly man in a red suit.
We brewed decaffeinated tea and sipped our tea, all the while enjoying one another’s company. We laughed. She told me about her day. Then, when I started taking photos, it piqued her curiosity. She stood at my side as I showed her all of the various effects I could use to take the image of one teacup and change the background, add light designs, and make it look like a sketched drawing. I let her try each effect, as I was now the curious one – intrigued by what design she liked best.
The images below are the two effects that she insisted were the coolest.
And here’s a cleaned up image of the original…
I find myself immensely interested in a child’s artistic nature. What colors do they gravitate to among the numerous offerings in a large box of crayons? Do they like to sing and dance or would they rather sit and draw? What’s the fascination with studying every photo on my phone even though they’ve seen them probably a dozen times already?
Did their spirits enter this world overflowing with artistic interest or were they cultivated once enveloped in their surroundings? I may not have an answer, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying the results.
**I am an Artistic Spirit! For most of my life I’ve used the creative arts as a source of spiritual exploration and healing, even though I didn’t always do so consciously. Sometimes I was the instrument creating the art and other times I was on the receiving end. The connection between art and spirituality is so significant in my life that it’s infused into everything I do. I love music, theatre, television drama series (daytime and primetime), and creative writing and find fulfillment in artistic expression of various sorts: singing, acting, and jewelry design. Throughout the next 10 days, I’ll delve into how all of the above strengthens my spirit and has saved my life on more than one occasion.**
Kelly Deeny 