Any creative person knows what it feels like when that creativity is “blocked”. It is a feeling of anxiety, frustration, and confusion. The past few weeks I have spent preparing for classes and upcoming exhibits This means less time at the easel and more time at the computer. This shift in focus makes it that much harder to go back to the easel when I have a few hours. The best cure that I have found for painter’s block is to use the time for “play”. Really good art should always be play, but allowing myself permission to deviate from a structured body of work or theme and experiment still feels a bit like recess. Today I pulled out my colored pencils and worked them into a few struggling watercolors. I didn’t worry about the end result or how this relates to any of my other work. I cleared my brain and just made marks. An unproductive morning suddenly feels productive.