On being a pen & paper kid

I was sitting in my dark hotel room in Pittsburgh this week in the wee hours of the morning. The girls, my daughter Izzy and her friend Sophia, were still sleeping, and my husband was out for a morning run along the river. I had gone out to get coffee and asked at the front desk of the hotel if I could have a pen and some paper. They don’t supply these essentials in hotels anymore, who knew? Because while I was out walking to get coffee I had some ideas that I needed to jot down, and I don’t like taking creative notes on my phone. I think it’s because I was always, what I think of as, a pen and paper kid. Those are the two things that could keep me entertained for hours. And not necessarily for writing, but for drawing and the act of writing, of creating letter forms. I love how the pen (or pencil) feels as it glides over the paper and the amazing shape or idea that emerges from nowhere. 

I still feel this same way, but it needs to be the exact right pen (pentel energel 0.7 mm ball metal point), pencil (only a dixon ticonderoga #2 with a pink eraser on the end will do), paper (ampad gold fibre college ruled tablet) or the moleskin journal. Do I sound picky? I’m really not, just with some things. If I can’t find that extra special tool I will spend and extra ten minutes of precious time looking for it until I do, because it just doesn’t feel the same without it. And it’s that way when I paint too. I need to have the magic tools because that’s when the magic flows effortlessly. When you have the right tools so creativity can flow without distraction.

I don’t feel that way when I am working on the computer. And believe me, I spend lots of time on the computer, but I don’t have the same creative flow. I’m wondering if future generations will lose the magic of pen to paper or brush to canvas as they jot notes on a keyboard or draw on an ipad. Or will that same magic happen for them because that’s what they are accustomed to?

Who knows. There’s a place for everything in our world, but I am forever grateful for my favorite tools and the magic that comes along with them. Of course, my arsenal of art supplies is a bit more extensive than my writing tools, but who’s counting? What are you favorite things that you use to inspire your creativity?