Apparently, We All Just Want to Make Stuff Again

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been writing about slowing down.

First came the realization that maybe I don’t want to be quite so spectacularly good at surviving everything. 😂

Then came a little breathing room.

And with it, this increasingly loud pull toward the artist in me again.

I haven’t actually started painting again yet.

Honestly, it’s still been way too freaking hot. 😂

But something has shifted.

Instead of thinking about someday making more room for my paintings, I signed up to bring them with me to the Kipona Art Festival this weekend.

And suddenly I had a reason to start opening boxes.

Finding My Paintings Again

For the past few days, I’ve been spending more time in my storage-unit studio going through paintings that have been tucked away in boxes for nearly three years.

And it has been weirdly emotional.

Some I forgot about.

Some immediately made me smile.

Some made me think, Ohhhh, I remember what was happening when I made you.

Some I'm ready to let go of.

Some I’m ready to let go of.

And some I’ve completely fallen in love with again.

I’ve spent so much time thinking about what I should create next that I almost skipped over this entire body of work that already exists.

These paintings already carry stories, color, movement, experimentation, joy and pieces of who I was when I made them.

Maybe before I worry about creating the next hundred paintings, I need to give these a chance to live.

Apparently I’m not the only person craving more hands-on creativity either. I recently saw conversations about people returning to painting, gardening, journaling, crochet and other screen-free hobbies, and I laughed because…

Same. 😂

I want to touch paint.

Move color around.

Make a mess.

Sometimes I just want to put turquoise next to hot pink because looking at them together makes my brain happy.

Maybe creating doesn’t always need a grand purpose.

Sometimes making something simply feels good.

Bringing the Paintings Back to Life

That feeling got even stronger on Wednesday when my friend Morgan Snyder — beautiful soul, aka The World’s Greatest Photographer — came over to photograph me with my artwork.

My dad and stepmom graciously let us take over their basement and backyard, and we spent the afternoon dragging paintings around and playing.

We took headshots in front of my giant jellyfish.

I stood beside them.

Held them.

Laid in the grass surrounded by them.

We chased pretty light around the yard.

And somewhere in the middle of it all, these pieces that had been sitting quietly for so long started feeling alive again.

Honestly, I think I did too.

For once I wasn’t looking at them as inventory I needed to organize or products I needed to upload somewhere.

I was looking at them as my art.

Things my hands actually made.

And that felt really freaking good.

Maybe It Isn’t Either/Or

Friday brought me back to Susquenita High School for the first home football game, followed Saturday by a KPop Demon Hunters birthday party filled with SO MANY Derpy Tigers, henna, hair tinsel and sparkle.

And it reminded me of something important.

For a while, I think I was treating this next chapter like I had to choose:

Event artist OR studio artist.

Temporary art OR permanent art.

Sparkle Brookie OR Painter Brookie.

But maybe it isn’t either/or.

I can still love watching someone see their painted face in the mirror.

That art may wash off at the end of the night, but the feeling doesn’t necessarily disappear with it.

And I can also make paintings that live in someone’s home for twenty years.

Both are art.

They just live differently.

The shift isn’t about getting rid of Sparkle Brookie.

It’s about finally giving Painter Brookie more room.

Letting the Art Come With Me

And that’s changing the way I think about my events too.

Why shouldn’t the paintings come along?

Why can’t you stop for some sparkle, wander over to a painting, fall in love with it, and take that feeling home with you?

So this weekend, I’m bringing a curated selection of original paintings to Kipona.

Some have been tucked away for years.

And every painting I’m featuring from this group is available to purchase.

They haven’t all made it onto the evolving website yet, but that doesn’t mean they have to stay hidden.

If one catches your eye, reach out or come see it in person at Kipona.

I’ll also have special Kipona pricing on select originals because I am ready for these paintings to stop living in boxes and start living with people.

Maybe one of them has been waiting all this time to meet you.

The Work of My Hands

Psalm 90:17 says:

“May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.”

I keep coming back to that phrase:

the work of our hands.

Not necessarily the newest thing.

Not the biggest thing.

Not whatever everyone else thinks we should be creating.

Maybe trusting God with the next season doesn’t mean figuring out the entire blueprint.

Maybe it means paying attention to what keeps coming alive inside us…

and taking the next step.

Apparently my next step wasn’t making another painting.

It was opening the boxes.

A Little Question for You

So now I’m curious:

What did you used to love doing before life got too busy, practical or complicated?

Painting?

Gardening?

Cooking?

Photography?

Writing?

Making something ridiculous simply because it made you happy?

Maybe you don’t need to reinvent yourself.

Maybe there’s an old part of you waiting for a little room again.

You don’t have to change your whole life this week.

Maybe you just pick something back up.

Come Find Me This Weekend ✨

If you want to come say hi, get sparkled up, and meet some of these paintings in person, here's where I'll be:

I’ll have the temporary art I love—face painting, henna, hair tinsel, color and sparkle—along with a curated selection of original Brooke Zook paintings available to purchase.

Come say hi.

Come play in some color.

Come meet the art.

And if one of those paintings gives you that little ohhhh…there you are feeling?

You can take it home with you. ✨

With probably more glitter than paint on my hands for the moment,
Brookie ✨

Back to blog

Leave a comment