Boycott Artist Block

 

Art is the work of a lifetime. It requires a unique mixture of discipline, and play. Personally, I believe that you cannot call yourself an "artist" if you aren't making art on a regular basis.

1) 

Everyone is blessed with creativity. Picasso once said, "All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."         

2) 

Creativity is like electric current. It flows through us constantly. Maya Angelou once said, "You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have."        

3) 

Because it is like electric current, you don't want to disconnect, and break the flow of the current. Show up regularly to make something, as often as you can. Make anything. Buy a container of Play-doh. Your making can be "low stakes".  

4) 

Play! Explore new ideas with your work. Don't produce the same thing over and over. Let one project lead you towards the next.        

5) 

Constantly view the work of other creatives: books, films, photography, music, sculpture, painting, baking, design, etc.  Find and follow people who inspire you.

6) 

Perfectionism kills. You will make garbage quite often. Or, you'll have repeated failures. Failure spurs innovation and excellence. You're like an inventor, so you have to keep trying. Eventually, the successes will start to outnumber the failures.      

7) 

When you feel discouraged, it's time to "parallel play". As a ceramic artist, I often switch media if I'm feeling blocked. I make a basket. Or, I make a painting. Or, I do a quick abstract watercolor. Or, I'll slow stitch with embroidery floss. Sometimes, I'll make something small out of clay, with none of the investment that a large sculpture brings.    

8) 

Keep an art schedule. I try to get in the clay shed at least three times a week, more often during the summer. Being in the flow state of creating gives you a hit of dopamine. Often, the project you create, won't be as important as the feeling that making it gives to you. If you stop creating, you will cease to feel the wonder, and the dopamine. And, the more you stay out of the studio, the harder it will be to get back in there.

9) 

Keep going. No matter your circumstance. Pierre Auguste Renoir had terrible arthritis as he aged. He would wrap his hands to be able to hold his brush. Henri Matisse painted on paper, and cut it out to make some of his most marvelous work, because he was unable to stand at an easel. Frida Kahlo actually constructed a painting station attached to her bed.