This week I’m having time away from the words. Perhaps an odd thing, seeing as I’ve started working as a writer, but I thought it would be good to stretch my creative muscles in other ways seeing as my firs draft is all finished and I want to leave it a bit until I edit it. So far it’s been interesting, fun and not at all quiet!

Trying out lighting and framing on the film set

For starters, I’m taking part in the brilliant Collage Arts ‘Creative Callings’ programme. What that basically means is that, finally, I’m getting to do all the stuff I used to ask my students to do. I’m doing a video editing course, and so far I’ve put together a mood board, a pitch and a rough cut of my video. It’s immense fun. I’m learning how to use DaVinci Resolve (far more complex than the iMovie I’m used to) and working on how to create a business presence for myself in the creative world. On Monday I went to Collage Artspaces and did a bit of filming. Trying out lighting techniques, camera techniques and being ‘on set’ is a new experience for me and has me musing over what I could do in the future in terms of film.

The other thing I’m doing is expanding myself as a business. With Christmas looming, I figure that people might want to give something creative for Christmas. To that end, I’ve designed some gift vouchers for my workshops and some journal pages. It means I’ve discovered the delights of Canva (which is amazing. So many designs fore free) and Eventbrite (very useful ‘Help’ topics), and spent an awful lot of time reading ‘how to’ guides. A different kind of creativity, but definitely still fun.

The design I made for my vouchers. Canva is so much fun!

As if that weren’t enough, I’m finally making progress with my community project. Years ago I had an idea about working with disadvantaged girls in my area (having seen the brilliant Girls Write Now in the US) and it’s only this year that, with the help of The Emergence Foundation, I’ve actually been able to turn it into a reality. This week I’m very pleased to say that the venue for the first workshop for Write By You is all booked and you can now book a place on the project! Do spread the word if you know anyone who would be interested (girls and young women from 13-18 from disadvantaged backgrounds).

So, finally, I needed a bit of playtime. My ‘art box’ has been relegated to a high shelf in my daughter’s room, which gives you an idea of how often it comes out. Having a vague idea that it could become something I could turn into a product, I started painting the months of the year. It was surprisingly therapeutic and, going for abstract representation, meant I tried out an awful lot of styles, colours and techniques. Seeing as I have a full twelve-month set, I decided to turn them into this calendar which you can also buy for Christmas or for fun if you fancy it.

Here’s the ‘creative living’ page for April

It seems that the more I create, the more I want to create. Rather than writing leading me down a narrow path of words, I find the more that I open myself up to new ideas, the more I want to create and make in lots of different forms. I’m definitely looking forward to getting back to writing next week, but have definitely enjoyed the opportunity to try out other mediums and ideas in the meantime.

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