Walk into an elementary school classroom, and you’ll see it.  Amid the untied shoelaces, the reminder spelling words that adorn the walls, the near-constant requests for help and water and “Ms. Cooper, look at this” and snacks, you’ll find a commonality.  In every classroom, in every school, every student just happens to be an artist.  And a pretty darn good one at that.  Just ask them – they’ll tell you.  It’s a truth as simple as their favorite flavor of gum or what color socks they’re wearing.  Now, walk into a bank or an office building or into a lunch-hour-packed downtown restaurant.  Ask the folks there the same question – “Are you an artist?” and for the most part you’ll get a chorus of emphatic negative responses amid nervous laughs, tie-tightening and hair-arranging.  Why the change?  Surely we haven’t actually gotten worse at drawing or painting since our single-digit age.  So what gives?  What makes our adult selves so wary about doing the very thing that made our 4th grade selves confident and happy?  What we’ve found at our studios, is that in order to find your inner artist again, you sometimes need some PRACTICE.

• Practice non-comparison.  Pablo Picasso once said that the chief enemy of creativity is good sense.  So what if your brother is a “real” artist, or your mom once made a living playing the piano?  Don’t let another’s success bind and gag your own endeavors.  Your art is your own, and the act of you creating it is what matters.
   
• Practice self-validation.  Internally praising your own works is not being conceited.  Not only does positive self-talk do wonders for our psyche, but it can make us more receptive to the kind words of others as well. 
   
• Yes . . . practice art.  Like, now.  You don’t need to wait until you have more room in your home.  Or until you have entire stretches of unobstructed Saturdays.  Or until you retire.  Art can happen anytime, anywhere.  Scoot in for an extra session at Wine and Design here and there, take a class at a recreation center, or just create at home.  As Dee Hock put it, “Clean out a corner of your mind, and creativity will instantly fill it.”
   
• Practice something new.  You took a drawing class in high school, but that doesn’t mean that you have to be tied down to pencils and sketch pads for your creative outlet.  We think that painting is a great way to reconnect with art – it’s fun, it’s surprisingly forgiving, and you get to take home beautiful proof of your artistic endeavor.

At Wine and Design we love to see people of all ages become reconnected with the art they can make – to grow in love with creating again.  Every day we get to show up for work, line the easels with fresh canvases, and watch as art brings the light of laughter, discovery, newly-found self-confidence back in to people’s lives.  Sound too dreamy to be true?  You, too, can be a part of “uncorking” the inner artist in others by starting your very own Wine and Design franchise.  Next time you’re in the studio, we’d love to talk to you more about this.  For us, it has made what we do for a living into a career worth loving.  We look forward to seeing you, AND your inner artist, very soon.