I was so busy yesterday that I didn’t get to the studio again. I had already skipped a couple of days as there were just so many errands piling up, so many people to call back, and to make matters worse I had also run out of dog food. I noticed that my missed days were indeed piling up pretty much at the same rate as the To Dos on my list. Of course you never actually get ahead. I know I know this.
But in all this manoeuvring, all this struggling to free up time to bring art making into my day I noticed something. When you don’t make art for a while it almost gets easier to not do it at all. Missed days turn into weeks and then you realize you’ve kind of lost your groove on all of it anyway and well, you stop. I think this happens to a lot of artists. It happens to me.
Sometimes, this can be a good thing. Sometimes it is ok to have a break in your art making. It certainly gives you time to do more things, to find and see more things that inspire you.
Art making is simply an act of Faith - NW Share on XBut so much of the time, at least for me, I see that I just exchange the time I would be making art for time spent doing rather mundane things. I can’t even remember what time I traded yesterday for my studio time. I think I finally returned running shoes that were too small. I spent the better part of an hour trying to figure out how to upgrade my iPhone’s operating system and I think I also squeezed in getting Maizy her dog food on the way home.
These kinds of things always take longer than you think they will and tend to eat up your day.
I have realized there is just one thing that can put an end to this kind of distraction. There is only one thing that seems to work.
And it is this:
You just have to stop and do a little tiny bit of art. For yourself. It can be just 20 minutes but for some reason once you do, it has a way of reordering your priorities. You remember that this art thing is not a To Do, like getting kibble, but rather a break from those tasks. In fact it is not a task. It is the opposite of task.
It is an awakening where you plunge into the cool, clear waters of yourself. Putting marks down with paint or pencil or however you make art simply feeds your soul. It replenishes and reminds us we have choices – infinite choices – about what we want to make. Certainly in terms of art but also, in no small way, about our life too. Art making stokes the fire within all of us. It shifts our thinking into possibilities; curiosity of what could be ahead and begins to instill hope, again, within us.
Art making is simply an act of Faith. And when we do it, even in the smallest increments of time, we receive restoration. Restoration of who we are.
Outside of the endless to do lists and the busyness of our lives, Art making is part of the deeper answer that we often are too busy to ask.
It is the Yes.
Our art is just waiting, ever so patiently, for our return. We just must begin, in any small way we can. Again.
25 Comments
Hi! I’m
Nicholas Wilton
the founder of Art2Life.
With over 20 years experience as a working artist and educator, I’ve developed a systematic approach that brings authenticity, spontaneity and joy back into the creative process.
Join me and artists from all over the world in our Free Art2Life Artists Facebook Group or learn more here about Art2Life.
Don’t think I’ve ever heard or read it put so truthfully and clearly. Thank you – this is one I will print and keep. It is the YES!
What were you doing yesterday? Really? Why did you not get into the studio? Really? I think you were crazy busy getting the Art2Life course ship ready to sail! That was/is HUUUUUGE!!!! and feeding the dog, just as important! Why do we bash ourselves when we don’t make art??? It’s just about priorities, isn’t it? In order to be the great teacher you have said you want to be, the master has to put the practice aside (from time to time). I am so impressed, however, how big, talented, unified, and competent your support team seems to be! This orchestration and course fine-tuning, in itself is ART and a commendable accomplishment…sharing HOW you make art with all of us is making ART to the 10th power. Am looking forward to Art2Life! I always appreciate your honesty and transparency, thanks Nicholas!
I’m relishing your words, “Our art is just waiting, ever so patiently, for our return. We just must begin, in any small way we can. Again.” Thank you for this
I laughed reading this. It’s soooo true – all the diversions and how days can pile up. Thanks for your words on why we shouldn’t let that happen. You are very helpful. Thank you.
Stan
This is my first morning of receiving your wise words via your Blog..
As a person who is a great procrastinator it is comforting to know i am not alone in getting distracted – Really glad I have found your blog as I need the inspiration on this remote mountain- thanks
That is so beautiful. You said it so perfectly. Thank you.
This is a great reminder for me. I was out of town for over two weeks over the holidays, didn’t do any art and then finally got back into the studio over the past couple of days to make a painting to take to a gallery and can’t seem to make a decent painting. I was going in “cold” not having done ANY painting for over 3 weeks and I expected to get back in the studio and just paint something really great! Didn’t happen, but now I’m warmed up again and can really see the value to keeping my hands in the paint as often as I can even if it’s 20 minutes.
I have learned a lot from you over the past month since I found your website, and tonight I will start on your online course. I’m so excited, because you have helped me realize that I am an artist, and have always been. This is big for me. I have a lovely studio, but my fierce inner critic has made it difficult to enjoy my work there. After a couple of hours I was exhausted from defending myself against thoughts like, This is not good enough, You should use your time for something useful, You’re too old to achieve anything creative etc. etc. At times it was as if I gladly used every excuse to stay away from my artist self. This has changed now, and when I’m not actually painting, I’m consciously thinking about art, looking for inspiration in nature, studying art books, see how other artists work on YouTube and Pinterest, filling my eyes with beauty and just look forward to my next visit to my studio. I think the key word is FUN, and that’s something you have managed to bring into my life. Thank you!
So, So true. After a break e.g. holidays I always find it gets hard to get back into it. Also sometimes a lack of motivation can lead to long spells of avoiding the art and the longer you leave it the longer it gets.
This may be one of your best posts ever. (And that’s saying a lot because you sure have an abundance of excellent posts.)
Certainly true when we travel or get distracted with the tasks of ‘everyday’. But giving ourselves that little bit of time for art making opens up that window of opportunity. Thanks for sharing so much of yourself with us, Nicholas. You are a treasure.
Beautifully written! Your humanity comes through and joins us all. It helps me to get into the studio when I remind myself in any small focused way, what it is I’ll be about that day: am I working on a submission, a particular show, an upcoming workshop?…or do I just want to see what happens when bright complements work next to each other through a transparent medium. Any small way of defining what my essentially non-objective activity will be about. Art making, particularly non-objective art making, takes place in a different part of our brain…the part that doesn’t acknowledge time or objectives in the same way. So going in with a little bit of defined focus helps me get going.
I have a strong art practice that treats my studio time as a full time job that I love and can’t wait to return to! Most week days I am in the studio before 10 and end the day to eat dinner. I eagerly look forward to each studio day since I usually have a rough idea of what I want to do and I’m excited to do it. I have a process that gets me ready for the next day that I’ll share.
At the end of each and day and often during the day when I hit a road block I take photos of what I am working on and look at them in Photoshop. The act of looking at the art in a very small format and even changing it to be tonal and all black and white most often gives me insight into what I want to do next. When I play around in Photoshop I often discover something I did not see before. After I eat dinner I often stop into my studio to take another look with fresh eyes.
When I do this at the end of the day it leaves me charged up and ready to paint. I will most often be very eager to try what I discovered looking at my art at the end of the day.
When I have taken a break from the studio I find it helps to get some ideas to fire me up that I can’t wait to try!
Thank you for sharing that Susan. That is really helpful.
Great! I find it a joy to go the studio with this practice! I am eager to paint!
Wow, that’s awesome! I still practice interior design, so feel pulled in two directions….usually many more. This is what I aspire to. However, I’m still enjoying the design for now, and it is lucrative, so hard to turn down. I’m 63….soon! Then I’ll try your method! Sounds great!
Yes, so absolutely true and profound. I have been stuck in “other priorities” recently and this is a wake up call and reminder for me. Really one of your best posts! Thank you, Nick!
Hi Nicholas. Thank you for this post – I love it that you share your real self with us and illuminate those human moments that we all have. This is an important issue, at least for me, that household and business tasks seem to “get in the way” of my art making, and sometimes days go by without having made anything at all. It feels like trying to dig a hole in dry sand – the constant distractions from the art because of chores, errands, socializing – it never seems to end but must be repeated day after day after day!! And the time it takes for these activities can spread out until the day has disappeared. I try to remember that the majority of these tasks actually support and facilitate the artmaking. Buying the dog food, doing the dishes, cooking the meals, doing the laundry, returning emails, and so on. All of these things are necessary to do in order that our lives function well, that our “house” is in order, that we are eating properly, that what mechanisms we have in place in our daily round are in working order. Those things, when taken care of, ground us and free us up to then turn our attention to our art. Hard to create on an empty stomach in a messy house and no clean clothes to wear to that exciting concert to which we’ve received that impromptu invitation!! So I’m trying to look on all those tasks as if they are in partnership with my art practice. They deserve time and respect for how they support and nurture our physical selves and our domestic environment, as well as our inner artist, and the trick for me is to always remember that and to stop considering them the enemy of my art!!!! 🙂
You’re absolutely right – do at least a little each day. Stay in the groove. If your hands can’t be doing art, then let your mind be doing it. Doing the dishes can be a very enjoyable experience if at the same time you’re composing a melody, designing a collage, or re-thinking the layout of a new book. The right brain needs to stay tuned in, despite all the left-brain activities necessary for the maintenance of our daily lives.
Thank you again, Nicholas, for all that you so generously give of yourself. Cheers, Marianne
Yes! So true <3
I cannot tell you how much it means to know that someone like you struggles with the same challenges I do. I thought it was just me. This renews me and gives me strength to keep at it.
So trur! It is the one place I can totally have all parts of myself present and accessible.
Well said and so true. Your writing about art is so articulate and beautiful. Thank you! So wish I could take your class… but it’s a good thing I didn’t because yesterday I broke my arm! Next year for sure! Rock on!
Your writing spoke to me powerfully. Thank you!
You are so right–even 20 minutes helps to re-order one’s thinking and to re-focus on the importance of making art. Thanks for this insight.
I’m off shortly on a trip away from the studio for awhile. I won’t be in a studio at all for many days. And this reminded me to pack a sketch pad and pencils. Thanks, Nicholas, for reminding me to continue the practice.
So true. I have noticed this myself. Always good to have confirmation of one’s beliefs – I’m not crazy, just crazy about art!