I’m still enjoying the luxuries of winter break. Sleeping in, not paying for my own groceries, and no assignments. At first it feels strange not having to attend class or go to a meeting. The hugest adjustment for myself when we have a break from school is free time. What are you supposed to do with it? Sometimes I feel even more stressed when I am doing nothing then when I have too much that has to get done.

However, when art is a part of your life and creativity is a constant you don’t have to question what to do during your free time. The answer is crafting. And something that I like even more about free time without all of the deadlines and assigned art is the opportunity to try working with a medium that I usually don’t use. I tend to avoid using watercolors because I have just never excelled in working with them. So I went out and used some of my Christmas gift card to Michael’s and got some water color paints and paper.

I decided to try and enjoy watercolors. And I actually ended up enjoying the process of watercolors and found it to be relaxing. I worked on small picture planes with simple designs. I also used sharpie marker to add in the detailing after the watercolors dried. I made these tiny watercolors into series too.

Then, I decided to hang them in series on twine string with clothespins.

I was in crafter’s heaven making these decorative pieces for a good part of the day. I even began to do some fun experimenting and cover the whole background in randomized colors and drew patterns over the colors and I loved the outcome!

With past experiences with watercolors I never had thought I would enjoy watercolors so much. But then again, I often find myself having a change of heart with certain mediums.

It is so important to work with mediums you produce good work in to master working with this medium. But it is also important to work with mediums you haven’t always worked with. You will be pleasantly surprised.

Free time is a good time to experiment and step outside of your creative comfort zone. Sometimes it’s interesting to see what you can make with some good free time!