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| Lethe by Amber D'Amato |
Hello Again!
Above is a painting I made in about 5-6 hours in two sittings.
It is has been awhile since my last post. I started a new job and I have a lovely fancy title. I am currently finding a way to carve out creative time. Lately I have been looking at my inspiration objectively, my creativity comes in two forms: Pieces I have no idea what to do with and pieces I have absolute vision for. Both are fun processes and have their individual benefits.
The art pieces that I have absolute vision for are finished in one day. It is extremely satisfying feeling and a much needed confidence boost when I take a break from a piece I am struggling with that is taking forever.
The other pieces... The ones I struggle with inspiration-wise are sometimes the best pieces. I have grand plans for these pieces, but something hinders the process.
Currently I am doing a commission piece where I feel guilty about walking away from. I find that when I make paintings for myself and lose momentum I just set it aside until I am ready to return to it. In that space I start something else and often finish it in one to two days. This practice helps to get my creative juices flowing and not procrastinating. But when you are creating for someone else, ouch, this puts all creativity to a halt and I develop stage fright.
In the past I found that if I foresaw something entirely different in my head compared to what I actually made I would be upset. Those mistakes or detours gave me so much faith in the creative journey. I learned how to trust myself wholeheartedly. I learned how to take a new route because when I was finished the result was more satisfying than what I saw in my head. If you read my previous post, "Acrylic Paint Process," I discussed the painful experience I had with an experimental piece. A piece just for fun that went awry. Fun and plans rarely go together. Haha! And if fun and plans do go together it's not a journey. It is a beautiful summer day!
Through making art I learned how to be more gentle with myself. I learned how to embrace challenges a little better. I finally get that whole art therapy thing on another level now. I also learned that I am an extroverted artist, I love to share my experience during a process before a piece is done. I am not really affected by criticism or even too much adulation. Hahaha! That cracks me up a lot because I am a very sensitive person.
My approach to constructive criticism:
1. If it is about my technique that can be improved, I will consider it.
2. If it is about style, I don't take that into consideration unless they plan to buy it. Otherwise, your input is not valid to me.
I also find that if I am unsure about a painting or drawing that I am trying to create, I sit with it and flip through beautiful photos of other people's art on social media sites. I stare at it too, while listening to music. I'm sharing this with you because I am sick of people romanticizing the process. I am sick of the mystery of a troubled artist. I want to say, knock it off. We are all dysfunctional, ok, maybe artists a little more than the average person, but then, anybody can be anything if you practice it long enough. The Simpsons cartoon characters are ridiculously simple and successful. Would you not call that art? It most certainly is art! So leave your perfectionism and silly standards at the door and make something! Go to a museum, an art gallery, the art section of a book store, visit an art supply store and try something new with the intention to make mistakes.
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