I'm having so much fun making little altered shipping tags, finishing atc's, and impatiently anticipating the arrival of more glass to make more pendants.
But I have trouble creating actual art "pieces." It's not so much of a problem in my journals, maybe because I don't put so much expectation into it. I look at
these gorgeous works of art by Pam Garrison or the amazing work of
Anahata Katkin and they inspire me so much, I run to the studio and sit down and start pawing frantically through paper and fabric and photos and then, nothing. Or I feel like I don't have the right paper in the right pattern, or I need to stock up on costume jewelry, and really, that's just limiting me. I don't want to copy the work of other people; when I worked at Scrapbooks in Bloom, customers would come in and literally, piece by piece, copy the sample pages, and just use their own photos instead of the ones in the demo. I like to be inspired, but what's the point of duplication?
Back to my original point- I am working on three different canvas (actually gesso-board) pieces and am "stuck" on all of them. Two are in their final stages (I think) and one is just beginning. I don't know. I think I've mentioned it in a previous post, but I was just reading through Anahata's
Creative Process and this describes my current place of stuck-ness perfectly:
Stage Two RESISTANCE:
Then suddenly I hit a place where I have maximized that stage and I hit that RESISTANCE.
Remember resistance will occur naturally in the first third of the project. Learn to expect it.
Do not be surprised when you suddenly hit the edge of your process. It is Real for every-
one. The voice of reason is loud, convincing and intense. It can show up in the form of
boredom, disinterest, frustration, tiredness comparing & exaggerated mental chatter
about your artwork. Now I have recognized the value and realize that I have to work in
spite of that voice. It is crucial during the resistance phase that you keep on working!
The more you pause and stop working the more power and habit you provide to the
resistance. Most people stop right here and don’t usually push further. This defines an
artist from another person. Artist will work through this piece. At this point try your best
to observe the critic without reacting to it. Your critic will have some good ideas if you
ask yourself questions like: How can I solve this visual question? What is it I don’t like and
what flashes into my mind as solutions? That should be the extent of the power you offer
your resistance. The resistance only signals that you have hit the edge of your creative
breath. And when this happens it simply shows you that it is time for a new strategy or
another creative inhalation.
Well, I guess that means it's time to head back to the studio, ask some visual questions, and listen to what that inner critic might be suggesting. I'll let you all know what happens.
It seems that when I start to sell art, I start to create based on what will sell, not what I consider to be my artistic truth. Then I realize what I'm doing and feel awful, and start expressing myself "naturally" again, therefore stopping any "production for sale" process. UGH! So many other artists seem to have found a very comfortable balance between personal and business art, and I'm having a tough time of it. I guess the solution would be to just keep on working on what I've started, and be patient. I don't want to make things that look machine-made or mass-produced, but I'd also like to get my stuff out there. I need to keep taking creative risks, and use what "works" in what I sell, right?
