Heat advisory shifts weekend plans, charter review appointments delayed, Casa Blanca STEM school opens, fall football guide and one overlooked pup still waits for a home.
Welcome back, you bodacious bookworms. Last week, we renewed our commitment to creative play with a serious study of borrowed books, proving that inspiration can be found (and returned) with a trip to your local library. What did you say while crafting from tales written by someone else? Did you stack a tower of biblical proportions until the inevitable fall, or arrange them to display a humorous spine poem for a research librarian to reshelve? How did it feel to embrace the idea of judging a book by its cover? Even if all you did was rearrange a shelf of books by year of publication, I hope your next read is a great one.
If what you read in that borrowed book was some hair-raising fiction, this creative nudge will do wonders for your ’do. This week, we're reaching for an everyday object intimately connected to personal care and mundane routine: the hairbrush. Whether it’s a brush, comb or pick you use to tame your own locks or one for a beloved pet, this tool made for grooming and styling is our ticket to several minutes of creative contemplation.
There's something uniquely intimate about a hairbrush. It plays a role in how we present ourselves, how we feel, and how we care for others. (Think of brushing a child’s hair or a pet’s fur.) But what if we looked past its practical function and saw it as a gateway to deeper creative insights?
Ready to dive into your creative self and come away appreciating the many small, often unnoticed ways we take care of ourselves and others? If so, consider the following prompts a spray of detangler in your knotty creative process:
Hair Harvest Art(Tactile & Visual)Collect a small amount of hair from your brush (or your pet’s brush). Experiment with arranging these strands into a miniature “hairy art” piece. You could press them onto paper to create a textured drawing, carefully arrange them into abstract shapes, or form a tiny, intricate pattern.
Against the Grain(Visual & Texture)Use your hairbrush (a mostly clean one) as an unconventional art tool. Dip the bristles lightly into washable paint, ink or even water with food coloring. Experiment with different marks on paper: sprays of color, fine lines with individual bristles, or stippled textures. How does the brush’s design influence the marks it makes?
Of Sound Body(Auditory & Reflective)Close your eyes and listen intently as you brush your hair (or a pet’s fur). Notice the scrape of bristles, the soft rustle of hair, the quiet spaces between strokes. Does it create a rhythm? What does this sound evoke for you – comfort, a moment of calm, or something else? Write a short sensory piece describing the unique sounds of a grooming ritual.
Brush Persona(Conceptual & Narrative)Imagine you’ve been cursed by a witch Beauty-and-the-Beast-style, and your hairbrush comes to life. What adventures has it been on? Does it take bad hair days personally? Write a short narrative or a first-person monologue from the perspective of your hairbrush, giving it a voice and point of view.
Pattern Play(Visual & Observation)Examine the pattern of the bristles on your hairbrush. Are they evenly spaced, clustered or arranged in a unique design? Focus on the intricate details of the brush's construction. Now, create a sketch or a detailed drawing. You could even build a repeating motif inspired by its form.
What hidden artistry will you brush up against? By exploring this tool of personal grooming, we can untangle new creative ideas and discover the subtle beauty in the objects that accompany us through our daily acts of care and connection.
