how about this heat?

A pretty happy lamb.

A few years ago I saw a talk by Andrea Innocent at AGIdeas. One thing she mentioned that really stood out for me was to go back and look at the creative work you did as a child. I took note, it sounded like such an excellent idea! So, as my birthday present to myself last year, I made sure I did this when I was in Adelaide. Of late, I've been feeling a little bit creatively lost, a bit tired of what I do, looking for inspiration everywhere I can. I think at the time I was expecting to have some kind of revelation, that all my creative, white middle class woes would sort themselves out, but it wasn't so, and neither should it have been!

On the plus side, it was pretty interesting to see how I did things when I was in Nursery School and Prep. The good thing about this exercise, i think, is that kids don't have any reason to not do something. They have the materials and they just play and experiment. They can't over think things because they don't have that level of consciousness yet (or something?). So, I think it's great to see how you did something intuitively...at least, I like to think it was intuitive... It reminded me about how important it is to experiment. Do something differently, look at something from a different angle, all that jazz.

On a more personal note, it was a great way to help affirm who I am and how I seem do things, though there were some vaguely jarring things...like this lamb. I think that if you're feeling a bit uninspired and at a loss creatively, then this could be interesting for you as well.

Oh, and among the drawings there was a lot of bookwork, funnily enough, most of my writing exercises were half done but all the pictures were coloured in. Hmmm. On asking Mum what my deal was, she said that, according to my teachers, I tended to drift off in class and look out the window a lot. way. to. go.

With that in mind, this week I'm back at school...

***

Anyhow, it was pretty hot here in Melbourne. The short of it is that I complain about the heat a lot, I get totally grumpy. Josie and Sam had some foresight and bought some ice cream. Such a good plan!

Being slightly heat crazed and sugar-high, I made this poster for our house (call it procrastination):