The Argument for Boredom

If it weren’t for my brother’s seemingly endless childhood cricket games, I may not have become an artist.

Cricket- the longest, slowest, hottest possible choice for a child’s sport- dominated Summer weekends throughout my early life. In a pre-iPad world, surrounded by chatting Mums who made it impossible to concentrate enough to read a book, what was a girl to do to pass five hours every Saturday?

Drawing soon became a tool for me to get through the enduring matches with minimal complaints. Sat on a camp chair with a sketchbook and pencil case, I was content.

When I look back on the start of my art practice (which, for me, extends all the way back to toddlerhood) I see boredom everywhere. Drawing in class, drawing in church, drawing at the cricket. The places where I felt bored were the places I practised the most.

It begs the question: if I was always entertained, if I had access to screens and attention at all times, would I even be an artist?

Creation is born out of boredom. If there is no time to dream, there is no time for new ideas and there is certainly no time to make them happen. As the wise, old bear, Winnie the Pooh, likes to say, “doing nothing often leads to the very best of something”.

So, slow down and get bored. It’s fun to see what happens next.

xx Rose