writing

I am (not) an Artist: A Creative Manifesto

December 20, 2009

“Give your soul a voice and reconnect with the messy, colourful, musical, sensual, experimental, fully engaged, and artful side of life.” – Sonia Choquette

CreativeManifestoA few weeks ago I wrote a post about being afraid to make art. Lots of you wrote back or commented and said that you knew exactly what I meant. It seems a lot of us are afraid to say that we are artists.

Within a few days I knew that I had to do more with this fear: I had to face it. I wrote myself a letter, which turned into a dare, which turned into a manifesto, which turned into a collaboration with a dear friend and this lovely piece of art.

I told you that I had a present for you, but even I never imagined how wonderfully it would turn out. Penny took the words I had written and made them look beautiful. Thank you Penny! Please accept this as our gift to you this festive season. May the new year bring you everything you wish for!

(Just click on the image to download it to your computer. )

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  • Susannah December 20, 2009 at 7:34 pm

    Utterly gorgeous! xo

  • Lee December 20, 2009 at 7:42 pm

    Wow, Megg (and Penny) that is WONDERFUL! What a lovely gift and I gratefully accept. I will use it as a daily reminder that I am an artist 🙂 Thanks so much to you both. Happy Christmas to you!

  • sas December 21, 2009 at 9:02 am

    oh my – face that fear? you have totally blown it out of the water. with dynamite.

  • Jolie December 21, 2009 at 8:18 pm

    This gift has magical powers! I’m so excited about it– it’s beautiful and I’m going to hang a copy above my studio desk!
    Thank you, thank you!

  • Amber December 27, 2009 at 10:15 pm

    Merry Christmas Magical Megg!

    🙂

  • Bobbi December 29, 2009 at 5:54 pm

    thank you for this! it fits in with everything I’ve been thinking about lately

  • Roxanne December 31, 2009 at 4:24 pm

    What a magical gift, indeed! What wonderful words to live by. Happy 2010.

  • Jeri January 2, 2010 at 1:51 am

    A friend once told me “Fake it ’til you make it”! I found that very helpful to stop analyzing and go for it! Love your new site 😀

  • christina January 7, 2010 at 5:42 pm

    megg,
    this so amazing and inspiring.
    thank you!
    happy new year, friend.
    x

  • Shireen January 20, 2010 at 9:35 am

    Thank you, Megg. I have been reading you for about a year now. I love what you do and when I feel like my soul needs a boost, I come and visit you. This manifesto was the kick in the butt that I needed. Love the new site too xoxo

  • creativevoyage February 1, 2010 at 9:49 pm

    thank you Meg – have you read Julia Cameron’s The Artists Way? which echo a lot of what you say here.

  • Ella March 3, 2010 at 9:33 pm

    aaahh…what an inspiration…beautiful is an understatement…thank you!!

  • Jessie June 24, 2014 at 11:01 pm

    Hi! Is this manifesto still downloadable?