by Kerry Herwynen McIntosh

We had not been painting. Or drawing. Or, pretty much anything but the ordinary, everyday drudgery of daily life during lockdown.  

Laundry, cleaning and home repair filled the creative void.

But, it was bothering both of us. Frustrating. 

So, we decided to give ourselves a kick in the behind.  We opened a thesaurus and chose the first word we found. Immense.   

We gave ourselves a month to do, well, anything!

Just do it. 

Weirdly we both chose emotions! Tina painted Immense Joy. (And of course it’s a lovely, completely finished painting. )

Mine is mixed media (I bedazzled just for you, Susan Irving!): Immense Sorrow.

We wrote words and ideas on papers and put them in a jar.  Whatever we pull out, regardless of whether we like the topic or not, we create something. Anything goes. No competition. Any medium unless dictated by the challenge (but it has to be a medium easily accessible to all).

We are continuing with the challenge, one per month. This month’s challenge — A favourite piece of music. Here goes . . . 

[Ed: how would you interpret this challenge? Submit your images interpreting A favourite piece of music to cagac.ca@gmail.com and we’ll run a selection as follow up.]

Collectif members, send an image (or a few) of very recent work to cagac.ca@gmail.com with up to 100 words describing what you did, materials used, inspiration, etc. Maybe share how you’re feeling & how creativity helps. We’d like an informative, inspiring show & tell. Writers, send us poetry, lyrics, a short piece or excerpt.