I once heard Rainn Wilson, during an interview with Oprah, describe the creation of art as a prayer. I couldn’t have said it better myself. I find that when I am away from creating for too long, it affects my psyche. The longer the span between these artful prayer times, the more negative I become, and the less I am able to bless others.
The making of art is no different than prayer. Rainn Wilson
Working in a busy office environment can sometimes make it difficult to have the time and energy to get to that creative, prayerful space. It becomes a vicious cycle, where the lack of creative time negatively impacts your work and your relationships, and you then become even more depleted and lacking the energy to enter that creative space that you are so in need of. It can be a challenge for the creative who also loves their work life to balance the needs of the office with the need to have time to create and still have time for loved ones. Using technology to meet that challenge may seem counterintuitive, but I have found it can be just what the doctor ordered.
Recently I discovered the joys of creating with Procreate on the IPad. From sketching to drawing to creating fancy mandalas, there is no limit to what you can do with Procreate. I have found it to be a great tool for creating at the end of a long day at the office while relaxing in a comfy chair. You don’t have to be energized to dig into a big project – you can sit down with your IPad and start working on a mess-free creation with little effort.
The ways you can use this creative tool are endless, and you can find many courses to help you learn by visiting the website www.skillshare.com. The courses you will find here are endless! I recently watched Jane Snedden Peever’s course, “Geometric Design on the IPad – Mandalas in Procreate.” Jane shows some great tools for creating mandalas in Procreate, and I found myself quickly taking the mandalas to the next level, adding color to the designs for some joyful whimsy. I’m not sure what I’ll do with the designs, but it was a pleasure creating them, and it has sure helped me get back to my prayer time. I hope this inspires you to give it a try!
There are several types to choose from. They all have a switch to turn them on and off; some use a small watch battery (included); others, like the ones shown here, use AA batteries. These have a timer on them. They stay lit for 6 hours from the time you turn them on, then turn off for 18 hours before automatically coming back on again. This allowed me to bury the unattractive little box with the batteries in it in the bottom of the balls without the need to reach the on/off switch every evening.
