RSSJourney
I feel the need to dump a bunch of thoughts I have about my relationship with art and you are my captive audience. Some of these thoughts were sparked by a couple of comments Michelle of Cicada Studio has left recently. She’s a pretty insightful person.
If you ever clicked my About page, you’d read how I used to be a revision prone, frustrated painter. I was a crippled painter. Crippled by my own insecurities which manifested itself in repainting, questioning each stroke, and I was never satisfied with my work. When I started paper cutting, I found myself completely liberated by the limitations of the medium. You make a bad cut and there is little to do to rectify it. You can accept the mistake, toss that piece of paper, and start over. You can’t really overwork a piece, the medium dictates when it should be finished. And in all those limitations I discovered a newfound freedom from my artistic insecurities.
Once I have an idea down, I can work it out with the knife pretty quickly. Ideas come really slow to me. My process for the night lights is to loosely sketch (and I mean loose!) and then fine tune it in Illustrator. I print it out on regular laser jet paper and quickly cut it up to see if the idea is going to work. If I have to change my template, I do, but then I have it. I can print it out on nice paper and cut it out as often as required.
With the time pressures of my upcoming event, I’ve been forced to work quickly with the ideas. Michelle recently commented the ideas must be coming fast and furious. I guess it is all relative but for me, I am absolutely pushing the comfort zone. I have a deadline. I need a certain number of new designs. I can’t get boggled down with questioning my designs or judgement. I don’t have time to let myself get frustrated with my ideas. With more time, I’d tinker and adjust, and dillydally through the process. Right now I’m forced to get an idea out. It may not be perfect or astounding, but it’s out there. I tell myself I can make changes later. Keep putting one foot in front of the other and move forward.
Embrace Your Journey necklace found here.
Working under a tight deadline isn’t as much fun after college, but it sounds like it is still working its productive magic!
It sounds like the pressure is making it hard to enjoy the process of letting your intuition take over…and consider the alternative, the blank page with nothing that wants to be cut…
You’re doing it, and from the look of the work you’ve been showing us, you’re doing it well!
yes! sometimes we need deadlines to help us focus, especially with all the distractions we have at home. Looks like you are finding your groove though The new nightlights are sweet. What a great idea.
I have to agree with you on that one. I find myself second-guessing and doubting everything I attempt to paint and create. In the past, I’d chuck them all in the trash. In my mind, I see things one way, but my hands often make them another. It can be quite frustrating.
However, a dear artist I met online last year insisted that I take what I am pleased with at the moment and put it on my blog as soon as I am done with the project. She insisted that the release would free me of my mind’s need to be “perfect” and “accepted”. I was terrified at first, but now, I’m glad I did.
With each new piece I post, I find my insecurities lessen. And with each new piece that receives a positive comment by email or via the blog, I grow a little more secure in my abilities and willing to challenge myself more.
Your words are so honest - thank you for that. I feel crippled by my own insecurities at times too, so it’s nice to hear that you’ve found a medium you love and are comfortable with!
I use to be an illustrator, but was so obsessed with every detail that I could never be happy with the end result. The obsessing made me dissect ever mark I made with an over critical eye. I was miserable. Once I began working in fabric, I likewise felt liberated, just like you and your paper.
As for deadlines, they’re a tricky thing. Sometimes they force us to submit work that we are not completely pleased with, and other times they remind us of what we are capable of, push us to new places and creative ideas that we otherwise wouldn’t have left our comfort zones to explore. I think your deadlines here have been the wonderful kind that mirror back to you your own powerful talent and abilities, because you have done a fabulous job with everything!
It’s great that you’ve found the medium that suits you- and that you embrace it.
Deadlines make everyone nuts. Maybe it has something to do with the word “dead”? I actually feel that “pressure” and “artist” are often hand in hand- it can be an internal or external pressure, but it’s generally there when great work is made… one of the forces at work. Hopefully you can walk away from this experience with more ideas and the freedom of time to complete them at your own pace. I bet you find the pressure will come from yourself at some point, which we might then want to call “passion”.