A few months ago, I purchased two large Newsprint pads. They were on sale at our local art supply store, ArtMart, for only $2 a piece. My inner art-supply-junkie couldn’t resist. They were new, incomplete, and ready for ideas. It didn’t matter that in college I didn’t care for Newsprint. Yes, it had served it’s purpose. We used them for charcoal sketches, figure studies, and preliminary work. They are a wonderful inexpensive tool to work on. But the rough textured paper mixed with the charcoal made my teeth hurt like nails on a chalkboard. I know, it’s weird. I can’t explain it. It’s a sensory thing.

Hey, we all have our quirks, right?

But these newsprint pads, though they said “rough”, felt smooth. Instantly, I wanted to write on them. All of my college student quirks fell away and I was consumed with a desperate need to buy 20 of these Newsprint pads! I ran my hands across their crisp pages; I could hear angels singing their praises! And… THEY WERE ONLY $2 A PIECE! What a deal! But, I settled for 2; basically, reason won and kept the art-supply-junkie happy but under control.

Later that night, I picked up the first one and began filling it. A few months later and I am still working in that same pad, …and I’m glad that I don’t have the pressure of 20 pads of newsprint sitting in the corner begging to be filled. I am quite sure that I would have cracked under the pressure of 20 pads of Newsprint silently judging me.

So what does any of this have to do with, “LEARNING TO BE FREE,” which is the title of this post?

Well, patience dear one. Here it is…

There is a magic that happens when you aren’t worried about what you are creating, why you are creating it, and when the money you spent on supplies isn’t a factor. It’s a magical place of freedom and creation where your imagination can roam.

Trust me when I say, you need this. And an inexpensive pad of Newsprint paper is a wonderful place to start.

I use the newsprint pad and a sharpie marker to do preliminary work, using it like an over-sized sketchbook, working across the entire page or dividing it up into large sections. I love working with a sharpie marker because I can work fast and move over lines multiple times. The sharpie marker keeps me from being precious with it AND that allows me to capture the chaos that’s flooding my mind, getting it all onto the page.

It gives you the freedom to scribble, work big, make grand gestures! ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING YOU WANT. It is for your ideas and explorations. You are an artist setting out to sea and the pages are your ocean. You are your only limitation.

Working with inexpensive materials, allows me to make mistakes and mistakes are what it takes to make something worth while. You need to push around an idea – working it one way and then another until it’s fully formed.

Think of it like kneading bread. You have to knead most breads or they won’t rise. Well, creating is similar. You need to move your ideas around, squish them, work them back and forth in order for them to fully develop into something utterly delicious. Think of the newsprint pad as your counter top and the marker as the rolling pin, both ready for you to work your ideas out on. They don’t have to be perfect. In fact, there is so much beauty found in imperfections. Don’t be scared of them. Just create. Create and be free.

I know. It’s harder than it sounds.

Trust me though, once you begin, you won’t want to go back. Allow your intuition, creative juices, inner genius, or whatever muse inspires you to guide you. Silence your inner critic, that nagging voice that tends to take over in your mind. Let loose. Be free.

And above all, CREATE, CREATE CREATE!