Scribbling like a child with full confidence that I'm making art

Lately I've been making art that looks a lot like the scribbles of a child, and I love that.

I think about how, in art school, there was hemming and hawing over what makes something art, what makes someone an artist.

I think about how, ever since I was a child scribbling in the corner at 2 years old, it's been about making something from my own self, using materials and following whims and seeing what comes out.

I think about how I realized that I am allowed to scribble and express and thoughtlessly create and it has no less meaning or value than something I planned and curated and developed for months or years. Because this is how I create art. This is my most genuine form of expression.

I think about how I was so insecure for so long, about everything, but particularly about my own value, whether I would ever be good enough, whether I was worth the space I took up...

My perception of what is worthwhile, what is valuable, has shifted so much since then.

It heals my inner child to realize that I’m allowed to draw and paint and scribble exactly how I would have as a child and that’s making art... that I can use the same actions a child uses and it feels so good and it’s art. I’m making art and if it’s not art to some that’s okay because I know so completely when I am sitting here doing this thing that I am making art.

And it's nice to have that level of confidence in anything I do, after so much uncertainty in myself for so long. I'm still learning, still growing, I hope I always will be, but when I sit and scribble and know that it's art and that my art has value and I have a message to share, I feel confident in my purpose and my place here and I'm grateful for that.

I hope you'll give scribbling a try :)

xo Hannah