Yes – I’m back. After faking my artistic credentials beautifully last year, I now have been asked to maintain that facade for 2010’s bigger than ever event.
Over the last 12 months, though, I’ve learnt a thing or two about creativity that makes me a little more comfortable about my involvement. I’ve learnt that you and I, every single one of us, is creative in some way. From the preparation of a special dinner to the way we put an outfit together; from the poem we write about our mate for his birthday to the artistic way my dear husband arranges the pillows on the couch. In a myriad of different ways, we utilise those creative parts of our brains nearly every day.
I’ve also learnt amazing things about creativity’s power. Remarkably, it seems that whether we are partaking in it or simply witnessing or enjoying the results, we are all beneficiaries. And if my experiences during last year’s Open Studios are anything to go by, it’s true. Standing at painter Jenny Reddin’s property and seeing the blackened landscape that inspired much of her 2009 work or speaking with conceptual artist Ali Griffin as she stood in the gallery that was also her home after losing her house in the Black Saturday fires. I not only wanted to purchase everything I saw, I said a prayer of thanks along the way that these people exist.
For they, together with every other person who is part of this event, bring not only beauty to the world but a sense of meaning and understanding. Bad things happen; good things happen; but often it is only through the creative process that we get to the root of the experience. And it doesn’t matter whether you are the creator or the receptor – we are all on the journey together.
So, welcome again. I know that you, like me, will cherish the opportunities that Open Studios provides and will walk away refreshed and inspired by the restorative powers of creation.