Three ways to give your creativity a jump start in winter

Winter is a great time for rest and reflection, but not a great time for productivity and creativity. We have some ideas for getting the creativity flowing even when the world is frozen.

Of course this is just for those of you who are close by, this might not be an option for you, but another local gallery or art museum will also do. Just surround yourself with art. Maybe take a camera or sketchbook with you and capture things that inspire you or make you feel something. Give yourself plenty of time to take it all in. Make a list of all the things you saw that you loved, or hated, while you were looking at the art. Did you learn anything about yourself or the artist from those pieces?

Start a journal or sketchbook. This can be daunting, especially if you haven't done it before or if you don't particularly feel like an artist, but, I promise, it is worth it. in a sketchbook nothing has to be finished or well done or beautiful. It can just be playing with color or gluing in images from a magazine you like. It can just be a dumping of thoughts and feelings, even if you don't know the right things to write, you can fill the pages with scribbles or shapes or colors that get your feeling across. I wrote a blog post about a year ago about ways to fill an art journal, so if you are in need of some ideas on ways to fill it up, take a look.

Whether that be joining a club, taking a class or going on a creative retreat, give yourself freedom to really feel it and make note of the way it makes you feel. Maybe write it down in your art journal. Over the summer Liz and Tina went on a creative retreat, with a wonderful group of ladies, to see the mastermind behind EttaVee: Jessi Raulet. The women who went on the creative were not all artists, in fact, most of them were not! They were just women who wanted to stretch their creative legs. While they were on the retreat they took a dance class, spent time painting and sight seeing, and made friends along the way.

There are so many ways to grow creatively while the world is cold and I hope these three ideas got you thinking about ways that you can be creative this winter.