As a child, I knew I’d grow up to be an artist. As an adult, this hasn’t always been so clear to me. This journey to living intentionally has been leading me back to the artist that has always been inside. The artist that’s inside of all of us.
At a certain age, we start to believe that we’re no longer creative. At six years old we all call ourselves artists but by ten only a few will embrace that title. The older we get the more reluctant we are to create because we don’t want people to tell us we’re a fraud or laugh at our creations–art is deeply personal that way. But during the holiday season the artist in all of seems to spill out. With magic in the air and thoughts of a growing light upon us, we embrace this idea that we can create. From handmade cards to handmade gifts, the artist in all of us starts to bloom. But there is no better way to embrace your artistry than when making Christmas cookies.
For years I have loved coming together with friends and family to take icing to sugar cookies and create something festive. There are no rules in cookie decorating and little judgment is given. Cover your cookies in sprinkles, mix five different colors of food coloring, sandwich them together to make a creation all your own. The only requirement is that all the cookies get decorated.
This year, I wanted to take my artistry to the next level by getting icing containers to easily draw lines onto the cookies and explore this medium as a fine artist explores their paints. It was a fun creative process with cookies that look better than any other year I’ve made them.
Cookie art gives us the permission to explore, create, and try new things. Whether that’s trying to get detailed drawings like I did this year or simply playing with colors and textures. Best of all, this yearly tradition doesn’t just bring out the artist in you but in everyone, you’re decorating with. It becomes a community event to laugh, share, and eat the extra toppings with. A memory in the making as you let your creative juices flow.
