Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas
You can’t use up creativity the more you use, the more you have. Maya Angelou
Today is a day when we may have lost some of the focus and energy we had when we made our goals for the New Year. Maybe we’ve started something and it isn’t working how we thought it would. Our expectations may be too high in the beginning, and most things we do can’t be judged too harshly when we are at the beginning or even in the middle of a project.
When we get out of our comfort zone and start things we are more awkward sometimes even than we thought we would be. Things will take longer and we may never be as accomplished as we hope. In one sense this is good we have something to strive for, and we may never feel we’ve danced our best dance, played or sang our best song, painted our best picture, sewed our best quilt, planted our best garden, or written our best book.
It is easy to give up, close our eyes, roll over in bed, and not bother to go exercise or go for the walk. We may leave our painting until the water dries up in our water container and that happens much quicker than you might think. It happens to me all the time.
Yesterday at Indigo I picked up the book “The Fundamentals of Drawing” A complete professional course for artists by Barrington Barber. In his aids to better drawing, he says, “After you have been drawing for awhile you will see the world differently. For an artist, the visual world is full of interest, and what he sees is life-enhancing.”
I think this is true. Until we’ve tried to capture a shadow in a painting or drawing we may never have looked closely at them. In writing and art, we contemplate the small to create the big. A lot of life is lived in the small, and a lot of our focus is placed on the big. When we get the small detail right like the curve of a cheek, our drawing or painting will come to life even if it is in cartoon form. We have more control over the small things in our life and small changes create big changes.
To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it. Kurt Vonnegut
Often we focus on what is wrong in the big picture instead of what small thing is not quite right. Often it is small things throwing the big picture off, but until we look at the small and adjust something the big picture will never look right.
My husband came into my art studio the other night and looked at my latest painting that is trying to depict us years ago with our first dog. It looks like you have a new husband. Getting a likeness is not as easy as you would think and I struggle with the fact that my characters don’t look how I want them to look. We learn as we go. We have to accept our limitations, our lack of skill, and temper perfectionist leanings.
Even if I paint a cartoon of my husband to my satisfaction is it how he sees himself? Getting a face right when it is the size of a quarter is no easy task. I often feel like giving up on a painting but if I persevere in the end parts of it I will like. There is always room for improvement.
As I finish my second novel and get it ready to put out into the world. There are changes I would make if I had more time, but I think no matter how much time I take there will always be changes to make. Perfection is the enemy of the good. If things have to be perfect we will have very little satisfaction in life. But, if we can be satisfied with good, and good enough we may surprise ourselves with what we can accomplish.
My sister-in-law sews her own scrubs. They are a work of art inside and out. The people she cares for love to see what she wears, her creativity makes their day. Living creatively adds a dimension to our lives we get no other way. We add to our lives and the lives of those we interact with.
If we are starting out on a new creative path, we need to be kind to ourselves, we won’t master it as quickly as we hoped, we may never master it at all, but it will bring joy, purpose, and passion to our lives.
Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun. Mary Lou Cook
One day you will wake up and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now. Paulo Coelho
Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow. Anthony J. D’Angelo
Thank you for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you will come back and read some more. Have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.
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