That 30 Day Post-it Note Drawing Challenge

7 Aug

We are innately creative; it’s one of the defining characteristic of being human. Look around your physical environment right now, what do you see? Things that at one point did not exist. Objects and items that may seem all together mundane and yet at one point they did not exist; when they were first created they were probably considered innovative.

When it comes to accessing creativity I think keeping things simple is key. Especially if you feel that you are not creative. As an Art Therapist I hear this statement a lot, constantly in fact. I never get bored of it; I get curious. I hear fear, worry and overwhelm that people often feel when being asked to create something without being told how. That’s why I love drawing prompts and I use them to help warm up individuals in art therapy groups. There is nothing scarier than a blank page. So offering a drawing prompt; even a simple line can open up a whole world of creativity we didn’t know we had in us AND it can help us feel masterful to come up with something from almost nothing.

Enter Mr Squiggle. If you are not familiar with Mr Squiggle, he is a much beloved character from an Australian kids TV show called; Mr Squiggle and Friends. Mr Squiggle lives on the moon but he ventured down to earth to turn squiggles (sent in by children who watched the show) into something else. With help from a very, very grumpy Blackboard and cheerful Rebecca, Mr Squiggle would work his magic. What a wonderful way to show children how to use their imagination.

If you have a spare couple of minutes do watch the episode below, it’s sure to put a smile on your dial. In this episode Rebecca visits Mr Squiggle on the Moon.

Mr Squiggle episode

I am fond of working with what already exist; what is already in play and responding to it. I also enjoy offering accessible creative experiences to people. We need simple creative practices to support us more than ever and when we do it together it allows us to experience nourishing connections to ourselves, others and our world.

Our imagination is like a muscle, it needs a consistent work out. So I put together a 30 Day Post-it Note Drawing Challenge for July and hosted it via a private Facebook group. I chose the post-it note format because its doable, accessible and taking the mundane and turning it into something magical. And let’s be honest; it’s nice to complete or resolve something. When we allow that part of ourselves that used to love to draw permission to do so, amazing things happen.

What amazed me about the challenge was the capacity for story telling in these 3x3 inch squares of paper. Each person responding to the same prompts with a completely fresh take; inspired by places, nature, pattern, colour, stories and memories… we are innately creative. Here are my artworks from the challenge. You can see some of the artworks participants posted on Instagram via the hash tag #30daypostitnotechallenegejuly2022. What an absolute treat!

Here’s some feedback from people who participated in the challenge:

“Great challenge, thank you Mary-Helen! It's been so nice to take that bit of time each day to get lost in these. Would do it all again in a heartbeat.”
“Thank you for organising such a fabulous challenge. I have had such a lovely time creating and enjoying others’ creativity as well. “
“It was good fun, and for once, I actually completed the challenge. Look forward to more along this line.”

I’ll be running more creative challenges in the future AND sending a weekly drawing prompt out via my mailing list, so do hop on it if you fancy some weekly inspiration and accountability...