Creativity

My niece Gwen English from Memphis just started a blog called Studio Bloom. Here is a story from her blog about her and my father.

"It all began on a sunny summer morning with a beautiful white stucco wall and my grandmother's red lipstick. As you can imagine, a four year old left to her own devices with a whole box of red lipsticks and a blank wall . . . well, I was found out, and it was a critical moment in my creative development. Instead of wild screams, spanking or a time out, my grandfather scooped me up and said, "Let's go for a walk." In retrospect, he may have been shielding me from all of the above consequences, but to this day, what I remember is the beautiful morning walk under the 100-year old elm trees to our local drugstore where I was the happy recipient of my first mega box of Crayola crayons, paper and artist sustenance candy. When we returned, there was not a trace of red lipstick left on the wall (Grace? A miracle? An angry grandma?), and I spent the afternoon sitting on my grandfather's lap, happily drawing and empowered by my day of unbridled creativity. Why was this moment so important? Simply because I was supported and my creative efforts were nurtured and channeled in a meaningful way. It was here that I learned to take refuge in my creative process as a means of nurturing myself."