Category Archives: creative block

Challenge your artist’s block and prove your limiting beliefs wrong

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Last week I asked a simple question on my Facebook page: “What is your biggest block when it comes to making art?”

A flurry of responses ensued as friends answered and commented, acknowledging, discussing and reflecting on the fears and comments of others. My curiosity about the blocks other people experience stems from a desire to understand and overcome my own. There are days when I can paint freely, with little thought for outcome and others when, without even knowing it, I stand in my own way when it comes to making art.

Some of the most talented people I know responded that they didn’t feel good enough or experienced, from time to time, a lack of self-worth. For most, it was a lack of time in the first place, but several people also mentioned an ebb and flow of energy and inspiration or enthusiasm, something which, it was also noted, did not correspond with available time. For many years, I had noticed a spike in ideas and creative energy that would occur at periods when I was tied up in other projects that allowed little time to make art. Then, as the projects came to an end and I had time free to make art once again, the energy and ideas were all gone and when I sat down to create, I was blocked. I recognised this as a pattern.

For many, myself included, a disconnect between the images we are able to create in our minds and on paper is a barrier. It was recognising this and moving through it that allowed me to make progress with my art. Abandoning any idea of what I was trying to achieve and allowing my art to just flow brought an enormous sense of freedom to my art-making. It was not quality, necessarily, that was an outcome of this, but it sure helped with the quantity of work I was producing. As I had no intention of exhibiting and was creating just for the joy of it, quality did not matter, but with practice comes learning and progress. I talked about letting myself off the hook last Summer.

So how do you focus on the process and not get hung up on the end result? Sometimes it can be a matter of “just” creating… of making art even (or especially) at times when we feel least like doing it. Part way through writing this post, I became aware that I had not painted for a few days and in spending time writing, I was choosing this over my art. I made a conscious decision, right then, to step away from the computer and paint. I set the alarm for ten minutes to see what I could create in that short space of time with no intention other than to put brush and paint to paper and let go. The image at the top of this post was the outcome. As I painted, I observed what was going in on my body and in my head. At first, I felt relaxed, happy that I was painting again, but just five minutes in, I was starting to feel tense as I became aware that I was judging my own creation and had to make a concerted effort to breathe through it and let go of an attachment to outcome again. “It does not matter what this looks like” I told myself, “I will share it anyway to illustrate my post and my point. I will paint through this feeling.” As I painted through it, I allowed myself to feel the flow of the brush, to enjoy the colours, to paint regardless of my own thoughts or judgements. Ten minutes in, as the alarm went off, I decided to continue… not because I was happy with the outcome or because I was determined to improve it, but because I was in flow… I was painting and enjoying it.

Just starting can be a block in itself sometimes. The effort needed to gather the necessary materials and begin can seem too big. This was another point raised in the Facebook discussion. When I do make the effort to make art, I am rewarded more often than not, and I find myself asking, “why don’t I do this more often?”. The answer is to have your materials close at hand, so that starting is made easier.

Art is a form of self-expression. It is a way of connecting with ourselves. We can use art to unwind or to process the things we cannot put into words. Some use art to help focus and I have found myself, in recent weeks, doodling on a page as I listen to someone as I find it helps me concentrate. So why then do we feel guilty about making art as some of us do? We feel that there are other things we should be doing, or worry that others think we should be doing something else instead. Freedom of expression is vital to our health and well-being. You deserve to spend time doing things that nourish your mind, body and spirit. Art saves lives.

What can you do to overcome your blocks and shift the energy?
If art is important to you, make art.
Acknowledge and address your patterns.
Challenge your limiting beliefs; prove them wrong…
If you are afraid of the blank page, go pick up a newspaper and make art like Austin Kleon. If you think you don’t have time, switch off the computer or put down your phone right now, go pick up a pen (biro, pencil, whatever, the tools are not important) and draw something (anything, even a doodle) in the next ten minutes. Go show someone. Ask them to do the same. Make art together.
How your art looks is not as important as how it makes you feel.
If art makes you feel good, you deserve to make art.

Please do share your thoughts, feelings, experiences and even your art below.
And if you need a creative kick start or a little bit of hand holding as you challenge those creative blocks, please check out my upcoming course.
With my love,
Julia x

What sucks your creative energy? What feeds it?

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Over the past few months, I have been working, on and off, on a project that has sapped my creative energy. At first, I avoided it; pretended it wasn’t there; focused on different things, but with a deadline approaching and no way out, I got stuck in. And then I got stuck again.

As a Creator, I felt far from in flow. I had been asked to write out and turn into lessons the work I had been doing off the cuff for a period of years… the work that came freely and easily to me when faced with a room full of artists. This recent request was work, not play. How lucky I am that my work does, at times when I am in flow, feel like play and how blessed I am to be in a position that allows me to work alongside artists with whom I can share thoughts, ideas and inspiration in both directions: I am inspired as much as I inspire in this and in any teaching role. It is a privilege to be paid for such work. But turning my thoughts and ideas into a teaching manual? That is something entirely different. My creative energy dried up. There was little room for inspiration or for art, but hindsight it a marvellous thing. With hindsight, I should have said no. I should have rejected this part which has taken over my brain and killed my creativity for way too long (and a week would be way too long, but this has been months!). The energy taken in doing this work left little room for my creative heart. And now… now that it is almost done and I have a little bit of space for myself and for my creative mind to take flight once again, patterns are emerging.

Today and yesterday, for example, the patterns took the form of mandalas, drawn out unconsciously, elaborate embellishments to the notes I was taking whilst speaking with people who ignite and inspire me. No brain-sucking energy there… just uplifting conversation with Creator friends whose spirit and ideas motivate and excite me. And guess what…? As I move back towards my creative friends, the creative energy flows naturally, spilling out of me without me even noticing until pages are decorated and ideas and energy spreads, outwards and on… from my notes to a fresh new page where the mandalas continue, a focus for my restless hands. That is the pattern… sharing freely with creative souls, I am at my most creative. Block my mind and my hands are also tied.

My creativity helps me focus and relax. I’m inviting and welcoming it back in and recognising the patterns. Play more, make more art, do more of what I love and more creative energy will flow. Next time I am faced with a task that is so far from in flow, I will simply say no. There is always a way round it… someone else for whom that task will be easy; even fun. Next time, I will find them and free myself to do what I do best.

What boosts your creativity? What saps your creative energy?
What can you do today to remain in the zone of flow?

Following my creative heart

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In the month that has passed since I last posted here, I have been exploring a variety of areas in relation to my art and the art of others. I have been following my creative heart, which has led to a month of investigation, experimentation, revelation and celebration.

Vivienne (left) and I in the gallery

On May 1, Vivienne Roberts and I opened our first exhibition of what we hope will become an ongoing creative collaboration of sharing the work of artists often known as Outsiders. The label is a contentious one and for us, the aim is simply to get the art we love and appreciate out into the world and hope that others share the sense of wonder that we feel on encountering these works. I do feel that exploring the works in an exhibition of art that really speaks to you is more of an encounter than a simple viewing. In Face to Face with the Outsiders, our intention was to bring together a combination of Outsider Art and related creations on a theme of portraits and faces. The reaction was good. It was apparent to us, even before we started hanging the show, that certain works were speaking to each other, opening up a dialogue before they had even reached the walls, works of art, face to face for the first time, finding common ground. It was a powerful experience and one we intend to recreate in many forms over coming months and years.

Lady in the woods

In my personal creative work, several things have happened… firstly, I have discovered that I gain enormous pleasure from making temporary works of art out in nature. I delight in walking in the woods, in the finding of the raw materials with which to start, discovering a spot in which to lay them out, making it mine and letting ideas evolve directly from the materials, their shapes and textures, creating freely, playing and exploring as sticks suggest shapes and stones take on new meanings. I also love the fact that someone may stumble across the things I make in any state from just-finished to almost eradicated as nature does her thing, dissolving all that once was.

My studio in the garden

I had been eager to paint on canvas again after a long break, so a sunny weekend afforded me the luxury of setting up a temporary studio in the garden and painting over and old, half-finished work in what, for me at least, was a very new way of working. I squeezed paint directly onto canvas, dragged it with scraps of cardboard, experimenting and exploring with fingers, free from any fixed idea of outcome. How liberating that was!

Canvas copy

A few days later, I tried painting on canvas again. I felt stuck, blocked, came to a stand-still. The difference this time, was that I was using an existing artwork as the starting point, trying to translate the feel of a collaged piece I particularly liked onto canvas. This was the sticking point. I had a fixed idea and could not get into the free-flowing play-state necessary for uninhibited creation.

Making Your Creative Mark

What a relief the following day, when I embarked upon reading Eric Maisel‘s new book Making Your Creative Mark and found words that spoke directly to me about my current challenge. As I turned the pages, I was repeatedly faced with ideas and exercises that shifted my perspective and propelled me forward in my thinking in relation to my creative practice. Dr. Eric Maisel is a creativity coach and author of over 40 books, but whilst I have been aware of his work for some while, this was the first of his books I have read on the subject of creativity. What impressed me most was the variety of practical tools to overcome a wide range of blocks, not only those I am already faced with, but others I have yet to encounter, or have encountered, but not really admitted to being obstacles to my full creative expression. In the book, Maisel presents nine keys that show artists how to unlock their challenges and work through their blocks. From helping creative people “mind their minds” to the importance of a morning creativity practice, Maisels offers practical advice and solutions. His real life examples illustrate both the dilemmas and the solutions from a personal point of view in a way that is easy to relate to. Making Your Creative Mark has already become my handbook on days when I feel stuck and need a little helping hand and I know it is a book I will be recommending to all of my artist friends.

So, after a month away from the blog, I return with a renewed sense of excitement and adventure, knowing that I must move forward from a place of creative freedom, taking risks and not trying to emulate something that has gone before. I feel stronger, armed with the tools to work through my challenges, knowing I am not alone. And on a different level, I feel honoured to have been able to share the incredible talents of artists I admire with an enthusiastic and receptive audience and look forward to doing more such sharing soon.

I would love to hear your stories of how you overcome your personal creative challenges and what led you to follow your creative heart. Please share your experiences in the comments below.

With love,
Julia x

Breaking through creative blocks to finish what I started

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Birds in flight

Birds in flight

Last week I started playing… painting with my hands, expressing myself freely, seeing what came out. I loved it… the freedom of movement, the new ways in which I was applying paint, with paper, cardboard, sticks, fingers, even the side of my hand. I liked what I created… the textures, the layers of colour, the freedom of allowing myself to create freely without a goal or even an image in mind was liberating and fun.

However, when it came to moving on to the next stage… attempting to assemble it into some kind of finished work, something changed. I no longer liked it. I felt frustrated, incompetent, restrained.

So I stopped.

Then I looked around… and in doing so, I noticed several abandoned projects. I saw the empty frames asking to be filled. I saw the half-finished paintings, waiting for me to go back to them. I saw the little sculptures that I intended to paint. One day.

And something happened. I realised that this is the point at which I always abandon. This is the moment, when the fear and the feeling of not being good enough take over and I stop. I identified my pattern… my stumbling block.

So I made a conscious decision to continue. I decided to keep working and push through the creative block to see what would happen if I just kept on creating. I tore up my textures and began layering them again. I cut out shapes and pieced them together and added more layers and within the space of just ten minutes, I was happy again. I had created something I loved and wanted to stay up all night just to get it finished.

Common sense (and fatigue) got the better of me and I went to sleep work unfinished, but today I went back to the piece again.

I layered more. I painted more. I cut new images, pasted them on… and frustration set in again. Doubts crept in… I felt like walking away. So I did for a while, but instead of walking away from my art, I painted through the frustration, I cut more shapes, tried new techniques and went back to the original piece.

It took a while to arrive at the finished piece, but I made it. With persistence and determination I managed to create something I rather like. I needed patience to reach this place, but it sits in a big square box frame now, grass flapping forward as if bowing in the breeze, birds wings curling as though in flight and I have positioned it, pride of place, in the living room, just to remind me that if I just keep on going I will get there… even if I don’t know exactly where I am headed when I start.

Flock of birds painting framed

Flock of birds painting framed