Time to Play

I've been working non-stop since December for a freelance design client. I desperately needed a break, so I took last week off. As luck would have it, my son and I both got a horrible cold. In an ironic twist, germs were the subject of this month's experiments. I pushed work aside earlier in the month and found time to play with gouache mixed with other materials: colored pencil, pens, collage, etc. Today I made a little more time to play and really let loose. The larger versions of these are on my sketch blog along with details about the media used.
I had been working on 3 different projects during the week, just in sketch mode - but something about working on that many things at once really clicked. I let go of that sense of work order, and actually worked like I think an artist should - by gut, and feeling. How rare for me and, it turns out, how totally productive! I felt like ideas were just popping up everywhere!!! I really needed this time to play. I spent a few days earlier in the week mourning the things I was 'going to do' and just gave myself a pass. As artists I think we too often let our head get in the way of our process. I hope I can keep this creative spurt flowing, or at least be present enough to tuck the best ideas away for future projects.