Marisa Anne Cummings - Creative Thursday: Everyday Inspiration to Grow Your Creative Practice

If youre like me, you contemplate the decision to buy a book through a series of moments: first by the design of the cover, then by the title and then by the books introduction.

(Now Im feeling the pressure as I write this introduction to you.)

Where do I begin? There is (always) so much to share with you. And yes, I cannot forget that an entire book follows this intro.

Also, if you are like me, some part of you simply intuits which books you must have the instant you come across them. Those are the ones that you barely even have to crack open the cover and you already feel good, just by sensing what they have in them. If youve picked up this book, it is my hope that what you hold in your hands is making you feel that way.

I saved the writing of this introduction until the very end of the writing process. Seems counterintuitive? I mean, the introduction really should come first, yes? But thats not always how it works. Sometimes you start with an idea, maybe even a well-thought-out plan, but in the end your creative projects (and your life) still become what it is they want to become. And when you trust this processthat is, when you begin to see the beauty in the adventureideas flow and doors open. So, although I had a plan for this book, I also had to be open to what it wanted to become and then return to write about it.

I tried out a lot of different paths to get to this very moment where Im writing these words to you. I had many moments when I wasnt even sure that I knew what my path was. I just knew that my love for creativity was always calling me forward. Writing this for you now, it all makes sense. It always does. What I didnt see initially was that all of my choices to pursue a creative life were actually perfect and always right on schedule. If I hadnt veered in so many different directions, accompanied by this intense longing to find my lifes workmy calling, I would not be nearly as emphatic about sharing my story with you. Wherever you are on your creative journey, in this very moment as you read these words, you are right where you are supposed to be.

Learning about others stories inspired me forward and saved me on those days when I felt completely lost and disheartened. Somehow I knew that when I reached the place I was hoping to find, I would, without a doubt, share my story with the hopes of inspiring others in the same way.

With that said, this book isnt all about my personal journey. Of course some of my personal experiences are woven in to illustrate specific examples, but more than that, this book is written for you. It is written to encourage you to trust yourself, to listen to your voice and to follow your heartwherever you are on your creative journey, whether you are just beginning or well along the way.

I want to help you discover what you have been searching for, how to trust your creative voice and most important, how to trust yourself. And dont let me suggest that I have this all figured out by any means, because what youll hear me say over and over is that everything is constantly evolving. But I will also say that once you are comfortable on that path, even if you get off track, you will always know how to find your way back. Having a sense of where you are going and why you are going there will give you the freedom to keep exploring joyfully.

What I want most is to be your companion along the wayyour trusted, kind, honest, genuine, and unconditionally loving friend, always cheering you on.

Even though I will go into more detail in this book about the story behind the title of Creative Thursday , I cant complete this introduction without answering the two questions I hear most often: So what is Creative Thursday? and Are you only creative on Thursdays? What about the other days?

To which I answer: What started out as one day a weekThursdaysset aside to be a bit more creative while working a 9-to-5 job, Creative Thursday has become a full-time business featuring my art and creations or, as I like to call it, a dream come true.

And yes, I am now creative on more days than Thursdays.

Which brings me to my final point about why I started this introduction with the statement I believe everyone is creative.

First, its what I believe. Second, when I tell someone I am an artist, I cannot begin to tell you how many people proceed to tell me that they are not creative. I always immediately respond with Yes you are. Because you are; we all are. Creativity isnt just about making art; we experience it every day. Its up to us to decide how much we access it.

So whether you choose to make creativity a priority just one day a week or all seven, personally, professionally or both, what I know is that theres nothing better than the fulfillment that comes from being creative.

And now its time to begin this book. Sharing the original tagline that accompanied Creative Thursday feels like the perfect place to start.

Chapter One

Setting an Intention

For months a partially finished canvas sat on an easel in my studio. I had been trying to capture some beautiful star luminaries that hang every holiday season at a well-known outdoor shopping area, called The Grove, here in Los Angeles. I kept trying to render the lights exactly as I had seen them against the backdrop of a gorgeous dusk sky... with no luck. As much as the imagery of the sparkly lights inspired me, painting them did not.

Something about that unfinished painting sitting for months on the easel felt even more daunting than an empty easel. Why could I not finish the piece? I couldnt because it had been so long since I painted that I didnt even know how to begin to express who I now was in my work.

Several months later, after an eight-hour drive through Utah and Nevada, I took out a blue tarp, laid it over my bed, grabbed a canvas and some paints, and started painting. I didnt stop painting for six more hours. Painting after painting poured out of me, as if my creativity had been pent up for years.

On that drive back home from my third visit to the Sundance Film Festival, I had been captivated by the most gorgeous sunset over the hills of Utah (something about those skies)so much so that I had to paint it. And I wasnt about to try painting it standing at an easel; I somehow knew that would stifle me. (This is why the tarp was sprawled across my bed.) But I did something else different this time as well. I didnt have a photo of the hills to refer to, just the image in my mind, so I decided to paint