{playing}

Barclay got me a bunch of sweet coloured gel pens for Christmas.

I have not had coloured gel pens since grade 8. I hadn't thought of them since then. They don't sell them at my local pretentious art supply store.

I think adults think of art and art supplies much too seriously sometimes. You go down to the art supply store and the lady asks how long you've been into such and such and you stammer about how you're not "into it", yet, but you'd like to be and what would she recommend and she tells you how she's been into it for thirty years and you need to take a class to really understand it and here are some brushes and papers and miscellaneous tools that will cost you exactly three arms and a leg to pay for. And then you spend all that money and try it out and discover you can't make anything look the way it's supposed to. Rats.
The way I see it, you can look at art like that. You can take the classes and be the professional and be really respected when you go into your local pretentious art supply store to pick up new paints. You'll probably learn a lot and be really good at stuff I'd never even thought of before. That's solid.
Or you can play. Like, for fun. You don't have to be serious or naturally artistically inclined or even good. At all. You can buy stuff you've never used before simply because it's on sale at Michael's and you can put on a record or a TV show and visit with a friend while you throw paint at paper and doodle all over it with gel pens.
Both are valid and good and right. And even if it turns out looking dodgy, at least you've enjoyed yourself and stretched some creative muscles.

That's the way I look at art. I'll never be an Artist. But I will always enjoy playing. {PS: As per usual, I put these as iPhone cases and small prints in the soc6 shop. Free shipping till the 13th!}