Finding Your Creative Comfort Zone

I read Megan Auman’s blog about scale and her comfort zone in art-making, and while I haven’t been thinking a lot about scale, I have been thinking a lot about what type of work I like to create. For years I wove one-of-a-kind scarves, and then I stopped. Not because I didn’t enjoy the making, but because so many things shifted in life, I stepped away from making art regularly.

Six months ago, I worked on creating illustrations for a children’s book that my brother wrote and learned how to take our ideas and turn them into an actual printed book. This experience prompted me to bring a second book to life (coming soon). One that I”d been thinking about for years but never made.

I’ve realized that I’ve kept making books in the last year. Some books are published, some just for me, some as gifts. Making functional work is my comfort zone. I love creating and love it even more when I and others can use it, which is why creating books makes so much sense. (Also, not to be forgotten that one of my favorite classes at Messiah College was papermaking, where I spent countless hours making paper and books).

What is your creative comfort zone, and how does that inform the work you create?