When is it okay to play?

Now that things are starting to open up again, our old jobs are starting to intrude again: much of the day was eaten up attempting to navigate some old political ground.

But the good news is -- a lot of fun new art toys arrived in the mail: small foam rollers, refillable markers for high flow acrylics, a new set of high flow acrylics, and a squeegee to spread things around with: so much fun!

So I grabbed the smallest of my old badly-gessoed canvases, just to practice playing with the new toys. We are not talking great art here, but yes -- some cool new effects are clearly possible: the only drawback is they all need to be drawn on a flat surface, so I'm bending over a table rather than standing at an easel; not my idea of a good time.

Fortunately none of the new tools was that expensive, so if I find in the end it's too uncomfortable to use them it will be okay -- and the high flow acrylics can be played with at any angle, so they're a total plus.


We've actually discussed this a bit lately -- my reluctance to spend too much money exploring art: apparently it's not just a function of "I'm not a real artist I don't deserve this," but also of growing up in a household with little money to spare for non-essentials. And however essential art may be for me, in the grand scheme of things it's easy to see it as just a hobby, and expendable. 

Luckily my canvases were selling very well last year, so I've more than covered my expenses. But in times like these, one begins to question a bit more closely where the money goes. Am I giving enough away? Where is the greatest good for the greatest number? And how am I contributing to the health of the universe?

But of course maintaining our own health is important, too -- and they do say laughter is the best medicine. Hopefully that holds true for joy as well, and the joy of new art toys to explore will contribute to mental health for days to come...