Back in January and February I had ideas. I had motivation. I saw photos of beautiful women in magazines or in images on the internet, women standing in front of windows or sitting on the sill, all looking out at something unknown. I feverishly painted the scenes for the promise of an upcoming art show at a local restaurant. Then the restaurant suddenly closed without warning and there went my show and all the work I’d been doing gone to waste. The new owner wasn’t interested in letting me have a show at the new place. So I gave up. Why bother painting if I didn’t have anywhere to show my work? What was the point? I’d been thrown into the dirt. I stopped painting and left all the works in progress unfinished; put away my sketches and paints. I left my window girls (my “window widows” a friend called them) alone with their windows, and shoved the paintings into a box, where they still sit today.
They deserve better. They deserve to be taken out, brushed off, finished and displayed. You see, when you paint a figure, you always unconsciously put a little bit of yourself into it. All my little me’s are sitting in a box, waiting for their time in the light, to be gazed upon, to be admired.
How do you get out of a creativity rut? When you haven’t painted or made art in awhile, it’s hard to jump back in. You need something to get your juices flowing again, to bring back the excitement and energy you had that made you hunch over your work for hours, not eating, not drinking, not going to the bathroom, not answering the phone. You have to find a way to put away your self-doubts (”I’m not good enough for a show anyways,”) and pick up where you left off. It’s so hard. How do you find a way to get back on the horse?
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Heh I have been in a creative rut for awhile. Its not so much about ideas, I have plenty of those, I have just been having trouble getting those ideas out the way I see them in my head. Its frustrating to say the least
But much like falling off a horse, you have to get right back on there. So grab your paints and just start, regardless of what comes out, just let it go and see what happens
in college i had a studio, a sanctuary to run off to where nothing else would distract me. pinkie, you used to have this too. is that the difference?
Pinkie, try surrounded yourself with a different environment and maybe try to get out of town? I feel like I get more creative when I’m outside somewhere, very far away from civilization.
And how is your comment posted in the future? that’s weird!
I have a place to work but no motivation. And if I just start painting, it’ll be crap.
I’m with Kyle about getting into a remote environment. Also, I pick a subject totally different than what I’ve been working on and focus on details that wouldn’t normally find a place in my typical work. Kind of the difference between writing a short story and writing in a diary. It’s a release from other people’s expectations and standards and I usually feel really great afterwards.
Stop painting with your ego and paint with your heart. Artists create for the sake of creation, not for the sole purpose of showing their work to others.
It is when I stop thinking about creating, or an audience and rather unclutter my mind that I find a beautiful piece of art can be acheived. I am always amazed by what appears before me. It is almost as if by unfocusing things eventually spill into a kind of fuzzy state where I no longer see what is before me but rather begin feeling what is before me. No mind altering drugs are needed just an ability to allow your mind to travel to that creative space.
Listen to post 8, for it is truth.
I had a whole career painting, limited prints the full nine. And it just stopped one day. Its just stopped coming. That was eleven years ago. But when it came back it came back with a vengance - and this came out. I still dont paint very much, but I know its there lurking. It will come in time for you, maybe tomorrow, maybe next decade.
/or you could cut off your ear, I hear that works. I only hear that on one side of my head, but still…
I understand why the cancellation of your show might have put a damper on your creative flow. But did you paint for the show, or was the show simply an opportunity to display your works? I don’t believe in particular job descriptions for artists as in: if you are a true painter you should feel this or that way and this or that is how being a painter works. Yet, I do think that what you describe is the attitude of a performer. Imagine writing a book, not knowing if it will ever be published. You’d probably still write it. Or a composer without an orchestra or a playwright without a theatre etc etc. So you are a painter without a show. I think that is ok. If you do enjoy feedback then perhaps publish your works online and sell them through online shops. Wheras that is not very glamorous and lacks the romanticism of a vernissage, I hear that has started many a career. As these ramblings (mine and the others) show, in the end you have to decide for yourself why it is that you paint in the first place. Once you find that out, don’t paint to paint, but to achieve this goal. Maybe painting is not for you, but writing, or composing or maybe painting is just it but you can only do your thing in the context of a performance (I remember you posted about live painting a while ago) only you can decide that.
You guys give the best advice. Love it.
I wasn’t just painting for a show, but the show gave me motivation to paint. I’ve only ever had one show and yet I have painted many paintings.
The thing is, without a class to create for, or a show, what motivates you to create? Do some of you just have an inner urge to make stuff that flows out of you all the time? Or does it come in periods? Does it help if you are lonely or bored or just went through an emotional situation?
Ah I see. For me it comes in periods, either motivated by a deadline for a show or a rehearsal or something or just because the idea is so distracting that I need to get it out before I can do something else. I found that putting pressure on myself, like “you need to write or else you are no artist” is really destructive. The less I define myself as an artist, the more astonishing and satisfying results I get. But then, I also know people that work best with a rigid work routine and others that work only a few weeks in the year and are accomplished artists and yet others again that need to be emersed into a scene in order to have a competitive climate. I agree with you, my best motivation is a show or something like that. But then, I am not a painter, but a performer. That is precisely why I will shut up now.
myself, i need more time to paint. i have plans in the works to give me just that. so i will save up for now and some big moves may happen, then i will paint. sometimes i get a little push to make time (give up sleep) cause something has to give. that’s usually due to emotions, be they good or bad- but they are big ones.
in college (ah, time) i’d clear space for a couple days with nothing to do and spread canvases around the floor with ample paint and pastels and paper and all the things one might want.
later this year, i may have an art party or two- bring something to work on and things to work with and we can all make some art about the house. an art sleepover with not so much sleep, but definately breakfast. i’ll let you know…
@13: No need to shut up. Your contribution is appreciated. This doesn’t have to be about painting– it could be about writing too. I definitely feel a kind of guilt for not being more productive. I have a friend who paints almost everyday and has shows all the time and it makes me feel like a bit of a slacker.
@14: Art party? Sounds fun! If the vibes were right, that would be a great way to get some creative juices flowing.
Art party sounds indeed fun. (Especially since there is no more artini.)
Awhile back I had this idea for a “Salon” of sorts, where everyone could try artistic stuff they’ve never done before, like paint even though you’re not a painter, or write a poem even though you’re not a writer, or choreograph a dance or something. I thought it would be a good way to explore other ways of expression and give you a chance to try out something you’ve always wanted to do but didn’t think you’d be any good at.
I like the idea of a Salon. Not so much in the sense of having a space to try things, but in the sense of utilizing the creative potential of this place. In all the places I have lived in the past it seemed that the art world was compartmentalized in different disciplines and genres. Even poets and prose writers were part of mutually exclusive circles. I would love to see more cooperation and interdisciplinary work. Like, the Zen Monkeys dancing to a piece by, say, Truman Sparks featuring Pinko Communoids, while Pinkie and NICU splash paint against huge canvases. Ok that has been done before with different players, but I am always shocked how hard it is to combine existing scenes that have a hard time surviving by themselves to something new and exciting.
Great article Pinkie - this is something every artist deals with. Personally I don’t really worry about anything except what I’m thinking about at that moment. So I write down as much as I can without worrying whether it is good or not. I don’t even try to string thoughts together at first. Then later I go back and look through it and find that 90% of it is crap but there are a couple good things - and I use those as a focus to build on. The result is pretty good and ends up being a clearer vision of the idea than I’d started with. But then that’s just me. I know some people who can just sit down and DO it. I have my notebook full of crap that I’ll go back through and dig out nuggets of clarity.
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