GRATITUDE FOR ARTISTS

A warm welcome to my recent subscribers…I’m really grateful to be able to share with you in this way, offering support and inspiration for your art-making through this monthly newsletter.

Truthfully, I’ve been struggling with this month’s newsletter. What can one say at a time like this. Words seem so ineffective in the face of such uncertainty. Wherever you are I hope that you’re well, staying close to those you love and finding moments of peace in these strange and unsettling events. I’m deeply grateful to those that are able to extend words of inspiration at these times – offering us an opportunity to consider how can we better support ourselves and others through this. Thank you.

One thing that I am certain of is that artists are very adept at handling periods of change and discomfort. We’ve learned through doing our work that every needed change brings possibilities and opportunity. Creativity flourishes when we’re able to allow the space for it and when limitations push us into new territories.

As artists we are uniquely equipped to deal with uncertainty. This is a necessary part of our practice as we engage with the creative process. We need a mindset that is curious, innovative, adaptive and resilient. We need to know what fear is and how it works. We experience ourselves in moments of struggle – often – and make choices to reframe our thinking to help shift the energy of those thoughts towards something more supportive for us. We practice mindfulness, non-attachment and risk-taking. We recognize the value of trying, failing, and the opportunity provided on the road to creating the next work, idea, design, or product. What we understand so innately as creatives can be transferred to any area of our lives. This is our gift.

I’ve been so comforted by my artist community and the ways many have reframed this experience, finding the moments of quiet to be a reminder of a spaciousness available to us and that can bring us something wonderful in the midst of this uncertainty.

Thank you to everyone of you doing your part right now and extending your hearts and energy out into the world.

I hope this month’s blog post, and this newsletter, provide you with some much needed inspiration and support for you and your art-making. At times like this our art is a place of respite for us, somewhere we can deeply connect with and tune in. I hope you can give some space to the gift your art-making has to offer you.

Enjoy this month’s offering and if you have any feedback for me, I always love to hear it.

Thank you for reading and sharing…it truly is appreciated.

PS: For those of you that are new subscribers I have included some links to previous issues of this newsletter – full of additional resources for you!

FROM THE BLOG

ABSENCE

We have heard it said that absence makes the heart grow fonder. When we’ve been away from our beloved for a period of time our feelings of longing only grow and we can’t wait to be reunited. Anticipation grows with each passing day as we imagine how it will feel to be in the arms of the person we love.

All artists have a unique relationship with the process of making their art and need to find just the right rhythm of focus and discipline to advance their work. This requires consistency of practise and an awareness of their personal sensitivity – what best supports them in their art-making.

Some artists thrive by spending long, uninterrupted hours in their studio. This affords them the opportunity to connect deeply with their process, materials and ideas. Other artists find that after a few hours in the studio they lose focus and energy for their work, so little and often helps them to be more productive during their studio sessions. Knowing our creative cycles and how to best set up our studio schedule to align with them is really important for any artist. 

But the common understanding that all artists have is that consistent, regular visitation with their art practice allows for development in their work. Discipline is needed whenever we want to improve our techniques and skills and our emotional engagement is deepened as well. While this is the ideal we strive for, it’s not always available to us.

There are many reasons artists are not able to have consistency in their art practice – health issues, work commitments, family needs and many other real life occurrences can interrupt our studio practice and our regularity is broken. 

For many artists I work with, this break from their art practice generates a lot of internal struggle. During these breaks they begin to feel like they’re losing ground in their work and begin to doubt themselves, even questioning their validity as artists. Their mindset, which may have been healthy and supportive of their process, moves towards a fear-based mindset instead. Where they once were strong, they are now feeling insecure and unnecessarily vulnerable to feelings of Imposter Syndrome. These feelings can loop on themselves and become insurmountable obstacles causing some artists to abandon their work for very long periods of time, and sometimes altogether. 

As an artist who has had to take breaks from my art practice due to life and work demands, I have had to face this very real challenge myself…

INSPIRATION FOR YOUR ARTIST’S MINDSET

STEMS : AINSLIE HENDERSON

I’ve been fascinated with the work of the award winning stop animation artist, Ainslie Henderson.

His short film has been making the rounds on social media lately and it really seems to capture something truly poignant. It feels somehow fragile and especially made for these times.

I love the ingenuity, the narration, the way we feel the emotion of what these creatures are transmitting...and the idea he builds around impermanence as they live out their short lives on film.

You can learn more about this Vimeo’s Staff Pick for a short film HERE. And see more of Ainslie’s animated films HERE.

Creativity, whether experienced through the making of something or enjoyed in the art others have shared, has the potential to transport us. We step outside of our immediate experience and lose ourselves in wonder. And, who couldn’t use a little wonder right now?

CREATIVE BLOCK : ADVICE AND PROJECTS FROM 50 SUCCESSFUL ARTISTS

Danielle Krysa, otherwise knows as The Jealous Curator, has written several books on creativity and this one is packed with inspiration. Reading through it is illuminating, as artist after artist talks about what helps them to get unstuck and move forward in their work.

Not only are there tons of awesome ideas in this book to try, but it’s strangely satisfying to read what successful artists have to say about their process and what trips them up. I think the more we realize that creative blocks are just par for the course, the less we’re likely to respond with fear and cause ourselves to slide further into resistance and critical thoughts. When we can normalize these very real aspects of working creativity, we can be prepared and know what to do when they inevitably arrive.

You can also check out the Jealous Curator’s Podcast : Art for Your Ear for more discussion on all things art related.

50 ART JOURNAL PROMPTS

One of the ways we can loosen things up for ourselves when we’re feeling stuck in our art-making is to work in a Creativity Journal. If you’re reading this newsletter you likely received my free PDF Download on ‘How to Make and Use a Creativity Journal’ when you subscribed – and you know how strongly I feel about the value of working in a Creative Journal to enhancing our art-making.

This blog post by the Blacksberg Belle offers 50 (it’s all about 50 this month, it seems!) Art Prompts that can get you working in your Creativity Journal. Sometimes we just need a little something to get the engines purring again…so this might just be the thing to do that. 

PAST ISSUES OF THIS NEWSLETTER

For new subscribers – please enjoy these previous issues of my monthly newsletter. Thank you for subscribing!

February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019

If you know of any Artists that could benefit from these monthly newsletters, please share and invite them to subscribe. They’ll receive my free PDF download on ‘How to Make a Creativity Journal’ when they do.

STRONGER TOGETHER

Art-making is such a personal experience, always calling us forth and asking us to be more of ourselves, to trust more deeply and to show up for the work.

When we develop a healthy and resilient attitude towards the struggles we may be facing, we feel more balanced and set ourselves up for success.

I hope this newsletter gives you some tools to help guide yourself towards more trust and awareness around your creative process.

Thanks for being here…wishing you abundant creativity today and every day!
Warmly,
Cheryl Taves
info@insightcreative.ca
h: 250.360.1453
c: 250.818.3239