THE CREATIVE SPIRIT

A hand-dyed silk scarf from a Soolip 2025 Creative Arts Workshops

Letter from Wanda

The creative spirit doesn't always announce itself. Sometimes it glides into our consciousness as quiet as a silk scarf blowing in the soft spring breeze. These were my thoughts this past Saturday as I sat outside watching silk creations hanging on a fence in a garden. Recently hand-dyed by Soolip Creative Arts students with wildflower inks I thought how perfect -- the flowers were simply showing up now in the garden in a different form. Our ode to alchemy.
 
As the sun filtered through them, I realized that with so much vying (sometimes loudly) for our attention, creativity can be shy. It's up to us to notice it and invite it in.

Going slow is good. Taking time to be still, wait and watch. The world is a canvas upon which the colors and textures of our lives takes place. And it's certainly not always fully formed. Often it's just half-phrases, errant thoughts, slivers of ideas. 

This is the wellspring of the creative life: not performance, but presence.

If you’ve felt disconnected from your inspiration lately, I invite you to pause. Take a moment to write in your journal without direction or purpose. Wrap a gift with care, not urgency. Light a candle before you write a letter. These are the ways back to yourself.

Because when you make space to see the unseen, beauty finds its way in.

This is how I came to find the work of Mariken van Heugten, a Dutch artist living in Germany. The beauty of her work found its way into my Instagram feed one day. I couldn't stop going deeper into her process and soaking in the rich colors and rivers of ink that meandered artfully through the colors on the paper creating pleasing organic shapes.

I not only asked her if she would like to be part of our Creative Arts Workshop this season (she said yes!), but I also proposed her work to a client. The result was a stunning collaboration for their save-the-date card, their wedding invitation and day-of wedding booklet!

A wedding invitation combining the artwork of Mariken van Heughten and letter press type.

I sincerely hope you find time for yourself, your creativity and your dreams. The possibilities are within arm's reach, just waiting for a chance to slip into your conscousness.