Have you ever found yourself not being able to or not wanting to work on your art that you were so excited about at first? Maybe you have just too much to think about, which is entirely understandable these days of COVID, war, record high inflation and sky-high food and gas prices, low wages, heat waves and fires from climate change, so many of our fundamental rights being taken away... Coping with all the fall-out can really keep you up at night.
And when you've lost a lot of sleep, you can barely function, never mind thinking straight, never mind getting back to making art, dance, music, or whatever your chosen mode of expression. The creative block looms large.
It gets hard to do even the mundane daily things like the dishes, picking up the kids' toys, vacuuming .....
Getting out of bed...
So you've already pulled out all the tiles for that new mosaic you had recently gotten ideas for, but then you remembered you had the kids' laundry to do, the dishes to do, pick up the toys, vacuum. IF you can get yourself out of bed.
Finally you get into the studio ready to work, but now you find yourself making all sorts of new excuses -- the studio needs to be cleaned up. Or out. You don't have that exact color you really want to use. You have to sharpen those pencils you might need for your next project....
I've been there. Fooling myself with excuse after excuse. No energy. And when I was finally ready to start my work, I just stood there in front of the drawing table and stared off into space. I imagined I had a headache... a stomach ache... I fantasized about my last hike in the woods ... and now I had back pain and needed to lie down.
Well, eventually I did finish my project, but I had to get over those hurdles. Here's how I did it.
First, I went to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of cool refreshing water. Sometimes people get dehydrated and don't even know it, but they have brain fog, feel sluggish, know they're not functioning at their peak. Once they've had some water, or tea or juice, they feel so much better. Who knew?
Then I opened my laptop and made a couple of lists.
List A. Why do I need to make art so badly?
I grew up in a creative family -- drawing/design, music, singing, dance, fiber arts
it's an innate drive
to move my ideas out of my head and onto paper or into other modalities (I am a photographer, poet and dancer, as well as a painter)
to improve my skills
for personal freedom of expression
to share my art with others
to receive positive and constructive feedback
to not have to go to an office and push papers from 9 to 5 or 8.
no boss, no one to tell me what to do and when to do it
List B. What are my goals in art making?
Right now:
Global: have enough steady income from my art to drop my day job
More specific: create 5 mosaics over the next 3 months
Exact: first mosaic to be 20 by 30 depicting a fanciful underwater scene with my favorite undersea creatures. I will work on this Monday Tuesday Wednesday and Friday from 9am to 1pm.
A little bit later, but keeping them in the back of my mind:
Find a gallery to represent me sell my mosaics and other art
Create an online portfolio and/or website to gain more sales
Choose one of my dusty unfinished pieces in the back of my closet and finish it
Complete these goals and build new ones
Then I created a schedule to structure my day and get things done. I am a night person, and my energy peaks around mid- to late afternoon, so I got all the silliness (housework, business maintenance, etc) out of the way in the morning. I gave myself little rewards whenever I completed a task on time, especially the ones I really don't like.
Some ideas for you:
Track your activity and brain power levels for a few days if you're not sure about your optimum times
Get up and go to bed at same time every day. Use your phone alarm to set reminders if you need to
Visualize yourself making/performing your art
Put in a few of hours of studio work. Setting a time limit can really put a cramp into the flow of your creativity, but allow for some flexibility.
Find a reasonable time to take short breaks to make phone calls, check emails, etc.
Take a 1/2 hour lunch break (Yes! You must not run out of fuel!)
Do a couple of pieces of housework every day, a few smaller things or one bigger thing
Get back into the studio and dust off an old unfinished piece for a little while to see how you can revive it. Don't overdo it
Another couple of hours to start a new piece or finish your current one
Make dinner (or pull out a meal from the freezer that you previously prepared) and take time to fully enjoy it. Notice flavors, smells, textures. Be in the moment! Don't forget to clean up!
Visualize yourself making your art
Have some downtime at the end of the day when you can do yoga, read, talk with a friend, relax... Your brain needs decluttering and time for processing and to let new ideas arise.
And here are some more ideas you can try for getting you back to doing what you love to do:
Make sure you stay hydrated
Make sure you're getting enough sleep
Make sure you are getting enough nutritious food, and not too much "junk food," although a little snack here and there is fine.
Visualize yourself making your art
Turn off your electronic devices, including the tv and radio, to prevent overstimulation. Your mind needs to be totally with itself for the creation to develop
Take a few minutes to relive your last really creative time and how alive and excited you felt. Tell a supportive person about it
Get dressed in clothes you associate with being in the studio or in the field. Wear a costume or use a special prop as inspiration for a dance
Share your ideas with fellow artists, mentors, family, friends. Consider someone working in a different creative field or who knows nothing about your art, to get different perspectives
Visualize yourself making your art
If you don't have dedicated space for your art-making, see if you can create something. Clear a bunch of stuff from part of a room or even reconfigure an entire room, depending on your type of creative work and your overall space. Let this clearing be an artwork in itself.
Take a walk in the woods (go "forest bathing"). Explore and appreciate the sights, smells, sounds, and textures of what's around you. Without thinking about your art. Your unconscious will absorb what you need.
In your journal, write about your walk in the woods. Write a poem
Prepare a week's worth of meals at a time to have more time to make your art -- slow cooker, pressure cooker, oven, microwave, ...
Visualize yourself making your art
Go to a museum. Spend time contemplating a piece that catches your eye
Look at your favorite art online or in books at the library
Call yourself an artist if you don't already. Go ahead. You have my permission
Hang some of your favorite art reproductions where you can see them often (On your fridge? Above your desk? Bathroom mirror? Laundry room!)
Make an "altar" to place a few of your favorite objects, and often look at them consciously with an eye toward design elements or meaning or how they can inspire you
Visualize yourself making your art
Play with a different style or process in your chosen modality
Develop clear and specific goals (see above)
Try out different times of day to see what works best for you. Everyone has their own natural rhythm, times when they are more alert and productive, times when they are more laid back. Some people are early birds, some are night owls. Some are neither, some are both (if that's you, you may have some extra teasing out to do)
Then develop a schedule. Stick to your schedule. This will help your art-making become habit and integrate it into your life as just part of what you do.
You may not always feel awesomely inspired, but you may be able to try out new materials or a new technique. Just play, experiment, have fun with it. Abandon yourself to it
Make a picture of your creative block as it looms large over you. Talk to it, find out what it wants
Find a different art-making modality (e.g. design a garden instead of sculpting, dance instead of playing keyboard).
Do 3 sets of 20 jumping jacks, go swimming for half an hour, play hopscotch in the street, play catch with your friend or your kid (or some similar exercise to get your blood flowing, and that wakes up your brain)
Refresh yourself with a shower
Take an art class at the museum or online
Take a dance class at a good studio, or online
Learn to play the flute, or the violin, or finger cymbals, or the tuba, or make your own instrument out of normal household objects
Do yoga or tai chi
Meditate. Join my online group
Join an arts or music tour group
Choose a color (oil pastel, paint, pencil, etc) and make a mark on some piece of paper, or even the business page of a newspaper. See what develops
Put a rectangle around something that catches your eye with your phone camera and make a picture.
Work outside your comfort zone. Ask yourself what that means to you
Start a group for like-minded artists to work together and share studio space and ideas
Visualize yourself making your art (What?! Again?! Yes yes yes! Your brain is heavily influenced by repetition and works to make your into what you see yourself being)
Involve your kids / family members / a neighbor or friend. One idea: attach a large sheet of paper onto an easel or a wall. Make a line down the middle, one side for them, one side for you. Draw or paint an object or scene in front of you. Alternately, you can work together on a single image, taking turns to add elements. You can start with a silly scribble. Of course you can create a dance or poem or song etc in the same way.
While you may visualize the final product, don't be surprised if it ends up entirely different from your original idea. That's your soul making itself known
Remember -- cleaning up your studio / work area does not count as art-making and should be scheduled separately
Remember -- "piddling around" does not count as art-making and should be scheduled separately
Trust the process. Don't stress over the outcome or finished piece. Your art will tell you what it needs. And doesn't need.
And keep visualizing yourself making your art!I have to stop now before I get even more ideas!
You'll notice that I like lists. Easier for my brain to process, more space in my brain to let new art float up. You'll also notice that I have added a lot of suggestions and I am sure that some will help you get and stay motivated in your creative process. Of course you don't have to do everything, but you can try using different ideas at different times.
And you've noticed (if I haven't cluttered up your brain yet) many of these ideas don't directly get you motivated to make your art, but lifestyle changes, even tiny ones, can make a huge difference. The point is: if you give your brain something else to think about for a while, or nothing to think about (meditation, anyone?), and a break from stressing over your art-making, you'll find that your creative juices start flowing again. And once that gets going, you'll be so excited to get back to it tomorrow!
Let me know how it works for you. And also what doesn't work, so we can figure it out together.
So experiment, change it up, take a break, have fun!
Happy creating!
