March 16, 2019

Episode 63: Keeping It Going

26 minutes

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Notes:

PODCAST—Keeping it Going

Intro:

Several listeners have asked us to talk about how to stay motivated and on track

with work in the studio. Maybe it is a reflection of the winter doldrums (which we

talked about last week) but blocks and down times can happen any time of year.

How do you cope with feelings of boredom and frustration that make it hard to

keep working?

A big topic with no right or easy answers

What’s the main issue? Is it actually a problem or is it your attitude and belief that

it is a problem?

We think of blocks or times of low motivation as problems when holding up an

ideal of always being on track, motivated, productive but is that realistic?

Almost nothing in life is constantly rewarding and interesting

There really are no standards of how productive you need to be—the idea that

we need to paint every day can be an impediment to natural ebbs and flows

Give yourself a break--consider that you are creating your own path, making

something from nothing, a difficult challenge to always stay on track.

Part of the creative process is incubation; sometimes just recognize that

being stuck may mean you are on the threshold of something new, it’s not

a bad thing, you still need to push through but you are not on a timetable (unless

you have deadlines)

It still may help to just give yourself time off --you may be able to find clarity then

A few days or weeks apart from the studio does not mean you have failed

What else causes you to be blocked:

Resistance to some new idea that needs to come through

Being pushed in a direction that doesn’t feel right by something outside yourself--

major cause of being blocked

Recognize if you are feeling pressure from a deadline, something with a

gallery, some positive or negative feedback that is getting in the way—

Examine that, discuss it with someone

Trying to repeat yourself—a big one. A really good painting can shut you down.

Extract the ideas that interest you from the piece, it may help to put it away

and not focus on its visual aspects –example from my own work

Being afraid to totally change the painting—you don’t owe it to anyone to keep

anything less than what you want

Make a radical move

Don’t second guess the urge to make change, sometimes you really have to

wreck it first/creative destruction

A “pretty good painting” –the temptation to check it off the list for paintings

needed for a show or other commitment—but inside it does not satisfy you, may

be hard to acknowledge that….

Have several going at once so you can move from one to another.

Wrap-up –

Ross emphasises the importance of risk taking in overcoming creative blocks

Part of creative process, does not have to be a negative thing though it can feel

that way –deal with it in a way that supports your own path and not someone

else’s ideal of what “artists should do”

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By Rebecca Crowell

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