Firstly, I would just like to say thank you for writing this article. I myself am a musician working on my master’s degree in percussion performance. I am also a husband and the point that you made about having enough time really hit home with me. I sometimes fall into trap of thinking if I do not have an hour to devote to practicing I will not accomplish anything. However, you are right the little time spent practicing or making my art will add up. I need to make the most of every moment that I can to create great art.
Thank you.
Thanks Levi and I think you’re right, the trap is that we buy into this idea that if we don’t have enough time to practice our art, we are somehow wasting our time. Sure more practice is probably better than less, but some is always better than none. Sometimes I think we forget that everything is cumulative and everything builds on everything else. So even if you can only work out a few measures of a song or a few pages of a story, next time it will build from there.
Having said that, I think it’s still easy to lose sight of that, no matter how many times I try to remind myself. Maybe it’s just fear in disguise, or maybe it’s sheer laziness. I don’t know, but the feeling doesn’t seem to go away, even when you “know” better. So maybe we just ignore it the best we can. Thanks again Levi for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with us!
[…] tolerant of detours and mistakes. We spend so much valuable time rationalizing, telling ourselves lies about creativity instead of proactively and methodically taking action to harness the power of […]
Thank you for writing this.
I am a jewelry maker and recently I have just decided to ‘unleash’ that monster in me and start to take my art seriously. The time factor is the one I have been struggling with today, and actually point #1 is what I have been struggling with since I was a kid. I cannot make realistic things/draw realistically, and my past art teacher, my friends, the people around me have been bogging me down because I choose to do something “my own way” rather than following the mainstream (which was to paint skies as blue, clouds as white, etc). They told me I was not talented. I failed upon entry to art school because again, I was bogged down by the people around me that pointed out how I was not talented like Rembrandt or like Mozart.
I have always wanted to become an artist but I took a detour and became a translator (I took the decision so that I can finance my art). It was around two years ago when I woke up and wondering what the hell I was doing being so far away from the thing that I love the most, which is to create.
The people around me thought that art is about being hippy and just make whatever abstract, slap down a price, and call it art. It’s been tough to get out from that environment and I am now moving towards a more serious exploration of myself. Even though I have passed those (i.e not caring anymore about what other people said), it still helps to read this, that way I can keep myself in check.
Thank you.
First of all Maria, congratulations for having the courage to come back to your art. I know that once you’re already established on a different path, it’s hard to switch gears especially when there is so much uncertainty involved. I imagine most of us take unplanned detours along the way, however it’s only the luck few who are able to eventually find their way back.
As you rediscover your art, I think you’ll begin to find new supporters along the way. Whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, or even creative community websites such as this one — you’ll begin to see that there is a whole subculture of deviants just like you who are also trying to understand this mysterious creative impulse that consumes us. So enjoy your exploration and don’t forget that you’re never alone :)
This article is completely on point! At #dontcutcreativity (http://dontcutcreativity.wordpress.com), we believe that creative talent can come from anywhere. Apart from believing in yourself, a good support network is essential and with a little financial aid from the government, so much could be accomplished. The governmnet needs to reconsider The Arts as a serious sector of society and in turn, will give more creative people the ability to pursue their talents.
Hi, it is weird how things work, it was today that I forced myself to be proactive (at least once in a while Rossana, please! – right?) and it was today that I found your site and you have moved my core with your straighforwardness and by calling out my own mental garbage. I didn’t want to be an artist, when I was little, i remember telling someone that I could never deal with an “abstract” job, where I would’t know that was I was doing was “right”, so I did business, knowingly that I didn’t have a hair of passion for it. On my teenager-self’s defense, I kinda planned for advertising as it was “a little” creative enough, but I still cowarded-out (please excuse my foreignness) which brings me to this moment in time, with a business degree that I don’t comprehend what/how/why? should I do with, and with the certainty that I am truly alive behind a camera, and knowing that art can be the only pursuit that can make me understand life and live, but I cannot abandon my early thoughts and that its too late for me, that I already chose & made that dreadful mistake, after all i still need to pay those student loans, right?
I thank you for your blog, may we all find our paths and be brave each step of our ways.
You’re right Rossana that sometimes things have a way of finding us. I think no matter how far down this creative path we may travel, we will always second guess ourselves and play the “what if” game. We can’t ever know where that other path might have eventually led us. So all we can do is make a choice and follow our heart (and occasionally our mind) and simply do the best we can with the information we have. The one thing we can’t allow ourselves to do, however, is to fall into that trap of believing that we cannot change course along the way. Every day gives us the ability to make that choice again by either reaffirming our present course or perhaps looking for a new one. And yes, sacrifices will have to be made along the way (hello, big stinky pile of student loans) but even when these unpleasant and unplanned detours appear along the way, we can always change course and ultimately head in a new direction. I wish you all the luck :)
I had one of those teachers who told me I had no business in art classes. Sadly, I let that resound in my head for a very long time. At 50 years of age I set out with a few photos in my files to submit to stock agencies. I sell online and locally now. I will never be a superstar,but, I am glad I stopped listening to that voice.
I have a lot of these excuses I lean on, thanks for knocking my crutches out from under me. :-)
It’s true that teachers can affect students (both positively and negatively) long after they leave their classroom. It’s not just teachers either— parents, friends, siblings, co-workers can all affect the way we see ourselves and our creative abilities. At some point, however, we need to find a way to reduce all of these outside voices and define ourselves. So kudos to you for finding the courage to try again. I wish you all the best :)
Even though these are excuses to not get work done (or to why we haven’t really made it yet), some of them are a little bit true. Of course there are different degrees of talent (that to me means just a way of thinking), of course knowing the right people and living in big cities makes it a lot easier to connect with other artists and people who can help you develop your work. The web isn’t the most important window we have got nowadays – it has always been the mouth-to-mouth and personal acquaintances. We need other people, and the right people, to be part of a bigger artistic universe.
Individual research is a very good start, as is “finding your tribe” who will appreciate everything you do, but without feedback from the right people we never develop quality in our work. Your momma and your friends and people who are dummies at your specific work field will always think you are awesome, but that’s not what we need to hear in order to become better!! Proper education, like technical classes, or even art college, can open up your personal universe to a whole lot of important ideas about art that you can’t just find going through Google or the internet. I’m not saying they are necessary, but they sure add much value to our artistic experience.
People fall into the mistake that if they’ve got any of the above, it is enough, or it is a guarantee. No. It’s just a tool that needs to be used the right way. In fact, everything demands much effort and hard work, and if you are putting sweat into your art, chances are you’ll feel the need to meet the right people and move to a bigger place and take classes. And will find yourself having good ideas. One thing leads and adds to another :)