This was another one of those days where it was useful to combine this with The Escape Plan to have some fun. So…
The Challenge: Add something childlike (not necessarily childish) to your workspace or home.
Originally, I was going to post a picture of one of the many stuffed animal vignettes decorating my room, but I got distracted by a more entertaining idea. After my stirring post on disposable creativity, Mom sent me Play-Doh in my Christmas stocking. I held off opening it as long as I could (because I understand the addictive properties of Play-Doh), but this morning I lost all willpower.
I warmed up with a couple of old favorite designs.
I started with the pinched mug. If you ever played with Play-Doh as a kid, you probably recognize this one. You roll the Play-Doh into a big ball, and then press your thumbs into it, lightly pushing and pinching at it until it’s a cup of some sort.
I moved on to the great challenge of my young creative life — the coiled mug.
I had a full set of Childcraft books as a kid, and the Make and Do volume was one of my favorites. It had a full chapter devoted to playing with clay. I doubt I ever tried to follow more than a couple of their clay patterns, but I was bound and determined to make the coiled mug. I rolled out each coil, with all the patience of an active kid. I scored each coil. I pressed the coils together.
And the mug fell apart.
Now, I now to pinch the inside of the mug so it will stay together and still keep its coiled appearance.
Then I asked myself, “What would grown-up Rebecca make?”
The immediate answer, oddly enough, was a tic-tac-toe board and pieces. So, I rolled, and I pinched, and I flattened. I even like how it all came out.
Of course, I had to try it out, so I challenged Myself to a game. Unfortunately, Myself has been playing for me for years, and I haven’t been playing in recent years. So, Myself took one of my favorite strategies and used it against me. I took the picture while my dignity was still relatively intact.
