Several years ago I read the book Deep Play by Diane Ackerman. She asks lots of poignant questions and explains the importance of play in animals and humans alike. One of my favorite paragraphs begins . . .
“Above all, play requires freedom. One chooses to play.”
Do you play? Do you schedule time to play? Or, are you too busy adulting to play? I hope those questions make you stop and think because you NEED to play!
Playing allows us to discover things . . . things about ourselves . . . things about the world around us . . . things about other people.
When is the last time you took time to play? Drama-free Friday is my play day. I block off that time each week to play because I enjoy it and I need it and it's fun!
I need time to play to enjoy my stuff – my art supplies – my creative space. Sometimes I’m tired after a Drama-free Friday play session, but with a short rest, I always feel refreshed and invigorated because I made time to play.
During this episode of Drama-free Friday, I pulled out my super duper Spirograph Deluxe Set. It contains 19 Wheels and 2 Rings along with quite a few other components. Did you know that the Spirograph was introduced in 1965? This simple, yet amazing toy made it possible for aspiring artists of all ages to create wonderful and intricate designs.
Left: The Spirograph Deluxe Set as it's packaged in 2017. Below: An original 1965 Spirograph Set.
According to the information on the box,
“The Spirograph was originally developed as a drafting tool by a mechanical engineer named Denys Fisher. It combines the principles of art and mathematics in a way that has inspired and delighted generations.”
As I played with the Spirograph Deluxe Set, I got lost creating designs from the accompanying instruction book. One thing led to another, and I began overlapping designs, experimenting with all sorts of colorful pens to create a wonderful collage of Spirographs. I used the Spirograph Cyclex tiny designs to add even more interest to the page.
I decided that the lightweight copy paper that I was practicing on needed to live in the world as something . . . but what? I love books and never seem to have enough bookmarks, so I added Wonder Under Fusible Web to the back of the paper, cut it into skinny rectangles and fused them to heavy black cardstock. A few fibers complemented the busy and colorful designs of Gel Pens and Tumble Dye Spray Inks background. I was thrilled with a very profitable play session. 🙂
Without taking time to play, I would never have thought about making Spirograph designs into a collage. I will, indeed, do it again!
Below, you can see the finished bookmarks and also some designs I created on Tracing Paper. I cut out the translucent designs and added them to the journal page. I love the way the paper seems to disappear allowing the background to shine through the Spirographs. I'd never thought of trying that until I played with different papers and designs.
Please join me each Drama-free Friday at 2pm Eastern! I can't wait to chat with you as we do the important work of playing and creating together. 😉
Until next time ~
Remember to Get Creative today! And Play! It's Easy!
Barb
