I was up till after midnight last night making artist trading cards for the next swap date which is on 16th December. Collette is doing a fantastic job at getting New Zealand artists networking through trading cards. Mum is totally addicted! We called around there yesterday to get their computer back online and she had made 5 that afternoon.
Here are 2 cards I started...
The last time I open 'The Artist Way' by Julia Cameron, it reminds me of all the positive things to look forward to having a creative life. Perfection is something a lot of us have to deal with, as we strive to get things perfect and by doing so it can be harmful to our flow of creativity.
Truly there is no better time than today to get out your drawing pads and start sketching, spend time writing in your diary/blog and taking photos of all the different colours that the current season provides. Try using a timetable and make sure you get into your studio and paint.
Being creative doesn't have to be a lonely occupation, find out what is going on in your art community and get involved. Attend art groups often, hanging out with other people who are being creative, will rub off on you and give you the support you may need.
You may be stuck in an artists block? I find going to the library and getting out books on artists and motivational books get me excited and help create new ideas. Another thing I like to do is go through my journals, they all full of my rambling on, and I always find an idea in there that I have written but not actioned yet. Please don't be hard on yourself, remember the oak tree grows then stops for a rest, before growing again.
Here is a great article I found on regaining your inspiration when suffering from artist's block written by Dr. Janet Montgomery.
It's a devastating thing for an artist to feel they've lost their inspiration, to encounter a creative block. But suffering from artist's block doesn't mean you've lost your artistic ability and it can be overcome.
It's the fear of not being able to do it that is making you feel you've lost your inspiration. To get rid of the fear, you must approach your painting as if it were a job and DO IT. Force yourself to set a goal of 'X' number of paintings. Copy if you must, use kitchen tools as models if you must, but simply getting into the paint itself will begin to inspire you, even if you don't like the subject matter. Change media. If acrylic, go to oil. If oil, go to printmaking.
Search for new painters on the web, using Google's image search. Go to galleries. Try to find an artist who's doing something that appeals to you, something that the voice inside you says, "I could do that" or "I'd like to be able to do that." Secure an image and copy it to find out what that artist did and how. Then think about recombining ideas.
Play the "what if?" game. What if I painted this old subject matter on a tire? What if I put together a still life of bricks? How can I use a new material, a new subject matter, a new style. Be wild in your considerations.Remember that everyone has fallow periods. I don't consider them really fallow, just the subconscious taking a breather and getting ready to take a different direction.
Check out some books on creative thinking to give you a jolt. Take a trip to somewhere you've never considered, even if it's only to a local town you've never explored. Always take a sketchbook, everywhere you go. Or a digital camera. Imagine yourself a Lilliput or a giant to change your perspective.
Keep a journal of drawings and writings for a month. Pick something from the journal to paint. Review it in six months or a year. Compile a scrapbook of family portraits - not just faces, but each family member doing something typical - a 'candid' sketch with writing about the person, the time, your impressions. Keep it in a journal for your kids' kids. Go to a senior citizen center and draw the people there. Talk to them about their life stories. Try to express your response in mixed media using copies of their old photographs, etc.
Take a class that forces you to produce in a structured environment.
The Youtube clip for the day is 'Ramble On' - Foo Fighters, with Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones
This is one of my most favourite songs ever!
We watched 'It Might Get Loud' A documentary on the electric guitar from the point of view of three significant rock musicians: the Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White.
It was awesome!
The card I pulled for today was TRUTH AND INTEGRITY
it said....you are guided to be very honest with yourself, and true to all activities and actions. Let go off all things that do not mirror your highest intentions for yourself. If something isn't working release it. When we open our hands and let go miracles always follow. You'll find that the job, relationship, health issues or other circumstances heal in ways you could have never imagined. Things will either get replaced or heal entirely. Expect a miracle when you decide to 'be true to you'.
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