Inspiration Fridays! Creativity Never Sleeps
Creativity Never Sleeps
Sometimes it takes loosing some sleep to find myself.
“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” – Oscar Wilde
I’ve made 3AM my friend. It’s taken some time, and admittedly we didn’t hit it off right away, but creativity evidently doesn’t sleep and so, neither do I. For me, insomnia seems to be cyclical. Whether it’s the waxing and waning of the moon or the shifting of the seasons, I find myself awake at all hours of the day and night. Melatonin and valerian root aren’t cutting it. Even coffee is out for the most part. I just need a nap.
Naps are elusive at best and most of the time they are just fiction, so I bumble through the day and paint my dreams. But when the night returns and I still can’t sleep, I’m learning to embrace it. My wife, Naomi needs her sleep too, and so rather than tossing and turning until even the cat leaves, I’ve been grabbing a sketchbook and tip-toeing downstairs.
Insomnia 11pm – 18″ x 18″ – Mixed Media on Panel
My studio is just a mile away so if I’m feeling particularly angsty, I’ll throw on some clothes and go big. This is the time of night that doesn’t count. It’s a great time to clean and organize or experiment with a new direction for my paintings. I don’t try to accomplish anything specific, that’s more of a daytime activity. The night is more about going down rabbit holes and checking things off the list.
If I feel there’s a chance I might find my way back to bed, a bathrobe and slippers are uniform enough. The couch becomes my studio. Five-minute sketches, or scribbled little figure studies are meditative and hypnotizing. Sleepytime tea and a number 2 pencil make wonderful night-time companions. It doesn’t take much, but I try to have some sort of art supplies available to me at every turn. There are sketchbooks stashed in both cars, at the studio, in my office and garage, and one on the nightstand next to my bed. I have learned the importance of making access to creativity easy.
The night offers a different rhythm. Ideas can float in and out of our consciousness without the interruptions and pressures that inevitably find us during the day. Getting up for a morning run can be tough, the afternoon will definitely be a slog, but allowing ourselves the freedom to switch it up and follow our creativity into the darkness can lead to some beautiful discoveries.