Art and Creativity Journal: Creativity and the "Dark Season"
Without a doubt, we are moving into the fall season.
We have more and more cloudy days and when you combine that with the fact that the sun is setting earlier and earlier, you can definitely say that we're entering the ”dark season.”
For as long as I can remember, I have always felt more creatively inclined during the winter months. I suppose part of it is because I tend to be a somewhat outdoorsy person by nature but when the weather is cold and windy and rainy I prefer to stay warm inside by the fireplace!
I keep a running log — or journal, if you will — of my painting work, writing down every stone I have ever painted (1000's!) and historically it reveals that my creativity tends to peak in October, November and early December and then starts up again in February and March and then slowly tapers off.
In recent years I have struggled somewhat with the fact that time is always such a major factor. Because we are on financially shaky ground I have to work on my art when I can steal a few free minutes, rather than according to any kind of schedule, or when I actually feel like it.
It's a rather frustrating situation — and very far removed from ideal — but it's also a necessary one. After all, I like to have a roof over my head and occasionally eat something!
Sometimes I can't help but laugh at myself a little bit because I have become the classic cliché of ”the starving artist.”
Anyway, I was spurred into action earlier today when management from one of the holiday fairs that we attend every year sent me a rather frantic e-mail saying ”where's your payment for your booth?!? Send it in NOW, or we'll give your booth to someone on our waiting list!”
They're using a new system this year where a lot of the signing up and the artist information process is provided through a centralized website rather than by mailing in paper applications, and evidently the part of the system that involves ”automatically charge this credit card when payment is due” isn't working properly. But their intentions are good, so I don't mind too much.
Anyway, it was a poignant reminder that our biggest event of the year is now no more than 60 days away, and that I still have miles and miles to go to bring my salable inventory up to speed.
Thankfully, it looks like inspiration is returning because I no longer walk past my studio space with indifference, I actually have an inclination to sit down and work on something.
This has actually been an unusually long creative drive spell I have been through this year, and I feel grateful that it seems to be coming to an end. Hopefully...
Thank You!
If you enjoy painted rocks, do check out The Hive Rocks Project and help spread the word about Hive, while also being creative!
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2025.10.03 AS-TXT-345/315