Experimenting

Do you ever find yourself creating something and then looking at it days later and hating it? I find that a lot right now… Having the patience to experiment and “find” my voice through that process is challenging. I feel impatient and frustrated with how long it is taking. How much i look at the art i am producing right now and fail to see the continuity that i desire. Ugh.

12 years ago i stopped producing art. There were a number of reasons, but one of main reasons was that it just wasn’t any fun anymore; i was frustrated, and awake at night obsessing about little things instead of enjoying the process of discovery.

Find myself there again…

How to keep from giving up

I am not sure what works for other working artists? Do you have a secret? Please share it.

For me here is what i am trying, tune in later in this series to see if it works out. I have a plan!

1. Everything is just a sketch on its way to something else
   • I really enjoyed the challenge of doing the 100 days of Instagram – because it was fast, not too precious and at the end of the 100 days i had basically 100 ideas to decide if i wanted to try expanding or resizing into bigger pieces. I had a library to pick and choose things from.
   • Moral of this story: Do you sketchbook sessions (time boxed explorations that can be thrown out or saved without too much mental anguish
2. Variety is the key to success
   • i have a short attention span, and often limited time in the studio; so having 3-5 pieces being worked on at the same time means i can do whatever i want when i do walk into the studio – a little drawing with charcoal, a little oil dabbling, a little acrylic, some finishing, framing etc
   • Moral of this story: don’t be boring. Sometimes in solving one thing you get inspiration to finish something else. I had a prof in college that said “if you are stumped, break your pencil and pick up a new board to clear your head”
3. Don’t be afraid to walk away if you are getting frustrated
   • I find that i want to control everything, which will often lead to over thinking and over working a piece… which leads to self loathing and hating the work (I know, there is therapy for that :-)). Sometimes you just have to admit you are not in the mood to be in the studio. So put it down and go do something else that will refresh your spirit and let you mind relax
   • Moral of this story: If it feels like “work”, then you probably aren’t doing it right. Making is hard, but it should feel a bit like playing or brainstorming i believe. Your mind and body should be alive with the possibilities. If it isn’t, then that is your body telling you it is time to take a break and do something else. Listen to yourself.

Some of the experiments i am doing to discover myself:

Working on texture, color theory and compositional elements; free form lines and geometric shapes combined with representational work

Next: Picking a path