Creative Medicine

When I last posted over a month ago, life in the United States had not changed as much as it has since, due to the global pandemic called COVID-19.

I don't mind admitting that I'm struggling on a daily basis to cope with the sheer terror of this virus and its capability--probability--of claiming an unimaginable number of human lives. My anxiety is cranked up all the way to 11, and I've struggled really hard with despair. I worry about myself, sure, but I worry even more about the people I love and others I don't even know.

I'm doing my best to cope, and honestly, failing. Miserably. I have faced a fair amount of adversity, but this is like nothing I've ever known, and it's going to get worse before it gets better.

Will it get better? Some days, it's even hard to summon hope that it will.

That's where I am right now.

Yesterday morning, to take my mind off the staggering and terrifying reality of what COVID-19 is doing to our world, I watched a video of Tim Holtz demo-ing his Distress line of products, and I became inspired to haul out some of my inks and sprays and just create.

I didn't do anything all that remarkable, but I played with colors, and let that be my troubled mind's focus for a few hours. No, it did not magically fix everything. It did not completely shut off the anxiety and dread and despair I've been feeling. I didn't expect that.

But there's something soothing and restorative about creative play, and color seems to be a natural mood enhancer, at least for me. As I played and experimented, I felt little flickers of joy that were a nice, if brief, reprieve from the misery I see almost everywhere I look right now.

Here are some (admittedly not-great) images of what I did:

My first attempt began with Distress Oxide inks, but I didn't like the result, so I added Distress spray stains on top, which I liked a whole lot better. I need to watch some videos on Oxides and play with those a little more before I really reach my stride in how they work and what to do with them. I love their almost creamy texture, but I just feel kind of inept at getting the look I want with the Oxides.

For this one, I switched to exclusively Distress spray stains, using Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet, Squeezed Lemonade, and Salty Ocean. I loved, loved, loved how bright the colors turned out. I had an effect in mind that I wanted to try, so I used an embossing folder from Stampin' Up! After embossing, I tried to gently extract some of the color from the raised areas with a wet paper towel, but it ended up compromising the paper...

So, I fussy cut and punched out some pieces to use on a larger project, maybe a scrapbook page or a card.

Next up, these two pieces using different shades of green, and on one of them, I tried some embossing with the new Distress glaze:

Pretty, though the niftyness of the glaze looks MUCH better in person. Also, I added a little sprinkle of Blueprint Sketch blue for a touch of contrast. I plan to turn this into a card, once I find the right sentiment.

As I was playing, I realized that I was once more returning to my favorite go-to color palettes and decided to try something new. I selected Picked Raspberry, Wild Honey, and Abandoned Coral, and this is what happened:

Even in Michigan's usual gloom, look how bright those are! (To the one on the left, I added just a touch of Mowed Lawn. LOVE!)

Finally, my favorite--I love, love, love this background. Mostly blues with a little bit of Dusty Concord, which I just opened for the first time yesterday, but I will be using more of it. I'm thinking that background is perfect for snowflakes or stars, but who knows what other ideas might come up?

In his video that inspired this flurry of creativity, Tim Holtz suggested creating backgrounds to have on hand for when you need a card front or want to die cut embellishments for another project, and I think that's a fantastic idea.

Being in the midst of ongoing trauma that this global pandemic has caused, I often find myself lacking the energy and focus to create something like a scrapbook page, at least for now. But playing with colors and just creating backgrounds from that play is something that didn't take much energy for me, something I can summon the motivation to do, even when I'm emotionally overwhelmed.

I'm going to keep trying to cope, whatever that takes. I hope you will, too.