Play, to me, is very important. It is all about being clued in, and yet totally open to whatever happens. A surprise, a discovery. So I gave myself 1 week to sort, clean and play in my studio.

How do you nurture your creative self?

According to Scott G. Eberle, Ph.D, vice president for play studies and editor of the American Journal of Play: “Defining play is difficult because it’s a moving target. [It’s] a process, not a thing. In between you find surprise, pleasure, understanding – as skill and empathy – and strength of mind body and spirit.”

For me play is not just the physical act (although I like to get my hands full of ink, glue and soil), but play is the joyful, happy, gleeful moments that can envelope your whole being: imagining new ideas, or reworking/destroying old ones. Drawing for no one but myself. Listening to music, spending time in the garden, dancing like no one is watching, that is play.

I love sitting on the floor and draw.

While sorting my studio bookshelf, I found some inspiration from this preschool reading book:

So I decided to call this little reworked lady: “Sus”. After one of the main characters in the book above, but it is also another word for sister in Afrikaans:

but “Sus” in English can also mean: “giving the impression that something is questionable or suspicious.”

She is sus, because she looks so young while wearing fishnet stockings.

and here is Daan:

Sus en Daan – all grown up 😉

I had fun creating these imaginary friends/family. It felt necessary – I’m having a bit of a hard time hearing about my ‘real’ friends and family and how they cope (or not) with with loneliness, the distancing and things like that. My dear aunt (in her early eighties) said to me the other day that she felt quite disturbed by the emotional impact all these rules and regulations and isolation has on her. I wish I could give her a hug. 😦

Anyway the psychiatrist Stuart Brown called play a ‘state of being,” “purposeless, fun and pleasurable.” For the most part, the focus is on the actual experience, not on accomplishing a goal. And so playing is for its own sake – it doesn’t have to have a particular purpose. But what if I can give it purpose afterwards by hosting another playful studio exhibition later this year? Lets see how it turns out.

Other news is that our son turns 11 tomorrow!

My journey with rubber started shortly before his first birthday. I wanted to make him a toy (to see if boys like rubber Bambi’s ;-))ha ha # experiment,

but lately he prefers all things military and he suggested that he will teach me how to build ‘airships’ in the computer game called “Airships conquer the skies”. l am actually looking forward! He has a great sense of humour and he is also a very sincere art critic 😉

Up up and away!!!

Stay tuned and remember to play!