Yes to all this, Cecil. Life happens and sometimes, creating takes a pause. If we only measure by our output, that leads to disappointment in ourselves. The gathering of ideas still occurs— thinking, noticing. That all converges and at some point the urge to make something resurfaces. It’s ebb and flow.
This essay's timing is great for me. It's a topic I think about often when I'm not creating any art in the studio. It's redundant to say '....in the studio' because when I am taking a break for whatever reason, I AM still thinking, dreaming, about making art. I have a dear friend who's an artist in Argentina. English is his 2nd language yet I've had my most profound conversations with him over the years. And once when I told him I was not doing any art (this was many years ago as I had to have a 'real' job as I got divorced), he told me to not stop creating. To start out with small things, or even in how I create my living space, how I arrange my things on a shelf. He too said we don't stop Being an Artist just because we aren't in the studio making it but that it's in our soul, how we live, see, speak, decorate, dress, are with others....in other words.....it's something that is so much a part of us, of WHO we are as human beings. I never forgot what he said and so when I finally put my 'toe' into the art waters after many years.....I stared small. Made these little assemblages. Felt safe. Then eventually the art pieces grew to the normal size I work in now and used to work in when I was showing in the gallery. Loved this article you wrote. Thank you.
I feel this. How you live is art, and everything emanates out from that.
Yes to all this, Cecil. Life happens and sometimes, creating takes a pause. If we only measure by our output, that leads to disappointment in ourselves. The gathering of ideas still occurs— thinking, noticing. That all converges and at some point the urge to make something resurfaces. It’s ebb and flow.
I agree. I have known for a long time that I spent my life noticing things that many people didn’t take in at all.
Well, not until I mentioned it to them.
What I see, notice, and how I think is, I deduce, is how an artist thinks. I believe it’s how my brain works.
I needed to hear this. Thank you.
This essay's timing is great for me. It's a topic I think about often when I'm not creating any art in the studio. It's redundant to say '....in the studio' because when I am taking a break for whatever reason, I AM still thinking, dreaming, about making art. I have a dear friend who's an artist in Argentina. English is his 2nd language yet I've had my most profound conversations with him over the years. And once when I told him I was not doing any art (this was many years ago as I had to have a 'real' job as I got divorced), he told me to not stop creating. To start out with small things, or even in how I create my living space, how I arrange my things on a shelf. He too said we don't stop Being an Artist just because we aren't in the studio making it but that it's in our soul, how we live, see, speak, decorate, dress, are with others....in other words.....it's something that is so much a part of us, of WHO we are as human beings. I never forgot what he said and so when I finally put my 'toe' into the art waters after many years.....I stared small. Made these little assemblages. Felt safe. Then eventually the art pieces grew to the normal size I work in now and used to work in when I was showing in the gallery. Loved this article you wrote. Thank you.