The more you do, the more you do and conversely the less you do, the less you do. This is how I experience my art making. When I am making a lot of art- possibly for an upcoming show then oddly I am able to do even more. I might be busy, I might be painting almost every day but because of this reason, the fact that I am so in it, I am so involved in my art daily, I can do even more.
So when I have been absent, as I have been for the past month, (I am writing this on a train that is crossing Switzerland) and I have not been making art, then I hardly am able to do a sketch in my sketchbook. It is almost like I don’t even make art. The less you do tends to prompt even less.
Which is ok, of course. But what I find interesting is how we find our way back to our art. I notice for me it is initiated by some random inspiration, such as stumbling across someone else’s art that moves me towards wanting to experience making my own art again. Sometimes it takes such a small prompt. I was just in Provencia, a small town on the Island of Mallorca. The patina walls of this small town were what got me taking pictures, composing potential compositions for my next paintings.
I never know what it is going to take. And that is half the fun. It is almost like the universe will never wait too long to steer you back to your art.
In the Creative Visionary Path online program, one of the participants told me that she had signed up for the program for this very reason. She was hoping it would help her get back to her art. But it didn’t work. After working for several weeks she still didn’t feel inspired. She pushed on and even ordered some art supplies from Amazon.com that I recommended for the program. (And yes, buying brand new art materials is one of the most common ways to jump-start yourself back to your art.) But this didn’t work either.
She was, however, tired of paying all the expensive delivery charges so before she put through this order of art materials to Amazon, she signed up for “Amazon Prime”. This is an additional annual fee paid to Amazon which allows you to get most things ordered, delivered for free. It is totally worthwhile if you order frequently from Amazon. Which obviously is the intent on their part.
Part of what you get besides free delivery, is access to a selection of videos, movies and shows that you can watch for free. Which she did.
She became engrossed in one particular show, a series actually, that was set in law offices, which coincidentally had tons of art on the office walls. In every episode of the show, there was a constant stream of new art on the walls. By looking at this art in this series, she inadvertently began to understand many of the Art2life principles that were being talked about in the Creative Visionary Path Program. Something clicked. Looking at this art on the set of a television series, was in the end what re ignited her passion to start making her own again. This is such a perfect example of how circuitous a path can be in returning ourselves to our art. You never know.
It is somewhat comforting, I think, that if we stray too far from what our creative soul desires, somewhere, somehow, someone will surely just give us a little nudge in the right direction, back to our art.
How do you find your way back to your art?
