Creativity Archives - Miranda van den Heuvel

Tiny little pleasures

Miranda2023-05-23T17:35:33+02:00May 23rd, 2023|

"What lovely tulips you have", she says. "Who did you get them from?" "Me", I say, grinning. "If I have to wait for someone to buy me flowers, I'd hardly ever have any. So I buy them myself. It makes me happy to look at them" "Oh you are so right", she replies. "Why don't we do that more often? Buy flowers for ourselves, or do things for ourselves instead of waiting or expecting others to do them for us?" "I can name a hundred reasons. I never bought myself flowers before because I learned that [...]

Tiny moments of magic

Miranda2023-03-17T18:11:05+02:00March 17th, 2023|

All around me I see people going through big shifts at the moment. Can you feel it too? A job gets changed, a partner gets left, a country gets replaced by one on the other side of the planet, a book gets planned, a retirement is started early. Decisions are being made at the moment. Big ones. And while we have made those decisions ourselves, chosen the actions that go along with them, there are certain moments of doubt, hesitation and fear. Is this the right decision? Am I crazy for doing this [...]

Rhythm

Miranda2023-03-17T07:19:24+02:00February 3rd, 2023|

On my walk today, I changed the rhythm of my steps from time to time. Slow, long strides. Fast, powerful steps. Slow, mindful movements. Fast, tiny jumps. It changed not only my entire walk - and whoever saw me might have thought I was crazy - but also my perception during the different sets. Faster movement require attention to the steps, the ground and the breath. Slower movement allow a contemplation of the surroundings. As always, everything I see and experience in the woods is a metaphor f [...]

Colouring outside the lines

Miranda2023-03-17T07:19:44+02:00February 1st, 2023|

Today I had a discussion with my therapist (yes, I have a therapist) about standards. There is a part of me that has learned that the bar should be a certain height for it to be worthy, valuable and noteworthy. That bar has evolved into an intricate system of standards that needs to be upheld. Standards that say how certain things are supposed to be done (by me), by when they are supposed to be accomplished and why I am doing them at all. Obviously, when one of those three elements of such a st [...]

Invitation to make a Visionboard

Miranda2023-03-17T07:19:54+02:00January 23rd, 2023|

What’s a Vision Board? A Vision Board (also sometimes called a Treasure Map, an Image Bank, a Mood Board or Creativity Collage) is a poster board on which you paste or collage images that you’ve torn out from various magazines. The images can be very specific – like a new dream house. Or they can be images that evoke a feeling – like a picture of a woman meditating that makes you feel deeply peaceful. It’s simple. The truth behind this technique is this: When you surround yourself with images [...]

Equinox

Miranda2022-11-12T23:49:49+02:00September 23rd, 2022|

When the day is as long as the night I am reminded of balance Night /Day Darkness / Light Fire / Water Sorrow / Joy Without one we would not know the other I painted this painting called Equinox around the spring Equinox in 2020 when the whole world felt suddenly unbalanced. It reminded me that even in chaos there is balance. Because without chaos there is no order either. I hope you find balance in your life as we move into Autumn season! [...]

Art teaches

Miranda2022-11-12T23:50:28+02:00September 9th, 2022|

When I create, there is always such an element of self. I can only create from within, from my feelings, my experience, my love/hate, my messages, my needs, my perceptions, my understanding, my views,... Every piece of art, every collage, every doodle, represents a little (or big) piece of me. Yet it is also not me. It is a translation. A story that needs telling. An image that needs drawing. A feeling that needs being felt. A message that needs to be heard. I always knew there was a healing el [...]

Laugh

Miranda2022-11-12T23:52:57+02:00August 17th, 2022|

In the basement there is a swing. It has a red seat and blue ropes hanging from the ceiling, right next to and along the basement staircase. The basement also houses my father's workshop. Every day after dinner, he will go down and spend time fixing some device or other. He puts on some music from the 70ies on a cassette tape, like Massachusetts from the Bee Gees, and I can hear his toiling noises adding an interesting background to the song. I am swinging. The simple joy of moving back and for [...]

Both sides of clouds

Miranda2022-11-12T23:53:22+02:00August 6th, 2022|

Today I made a collage in my art journal prompted by my art therapy course about 'Dark clouds above'. Click to enlarge The prompt immediately reminded me of Joni Mitchell's song 'Both sides now' where she sings about clouds, love and life and how you they show you their dark and light sides, their happy smiles and their tears and tell you that you don't know clouds, love or life at all. But through it all there is a journey, lessons, growth. There is sunshine after the rain and laughter throu [...]

Art journaling

Miranda2022-08-07T11:48:27+02:00August 1st, 2022|

Art journaling is the art of opening up a journal or notebook and just let your thoughts, images and creativity flow. It can be with paint, crayons, mixed media, collage... It can be in black and white or full of colors. It can be about your day or about what's on your mind. It can be done with a plan or intuitively. It can be small or big. It can be in a journal or on canvas. It can be any way you want. There is no pressure. There is no end goal. There is no need for beauty. It flows. It deligh [...]