The Antidote for Creative Blockages: Compassion and Curiosity

Building creativity is practice in being receptive and present. Nearly everyone struggles with this practice and it’s the unstable foundation of most problems, creative or otherwise. The equivalent of artist block can occur in any career, hobby, relationship, religion, lifestyle, etc, to any degree of severity. When we become insular and shut off, we struggle …

Initiation of Inspiration: Recognition

There’s a pull. We’re drawn to inspiration. Once we’ve absorbed it, pulling it back out of ourselves can be troublesome. Being able to recognize its existence within us is a skill in need of practice. The basis of inspiration builds up within us and its permanent residence may cause new additions to be overlooked. “Oh, …

Initiation of Inspiration: Recall

When the itch isn’t accompanied by ignition, when we struggle to take initiative when hit with the urge to create, we must practice our information recall. Every interesting thought we’ve had since our last creative session has disappeared. Notes may jog our memory but lack the internal flow of a natural spark— we’re detached from …

Why I Sketch

What we see and experience is a powerful influence on our being. Our sensory input designs our reality. Receptors take external stimuli and curate logical imagery. Sketching, putting lines on paper, is a way we can once more replicate reality having passed into us and then out through us. When drawing studies of the world …

Inspiration as Proof of the Soul

All ideas come from somewhere. They’re a reaction, like fire, spawned from a connection. This is inspiration. The moment a connection is made between you and the subject, tinder and heat, some intrigue or recognition begins creating something new that’s neither tinder nor heat. Layers, boundaries, and relationships are the equation for inspiration. An idea …

Making Art With No Money

Expensive materials are rarely ever needed. Any hobby can be pursued sustainably without a need for money— you must utilize imagination and our natural instincts to make things. Art especially needs nothing but inspiration. Some of the best art I’ve come out with and have seen with has been with recycled or unconventional materials. In …

Good to Be Bad: Making Art

Are you afraid to create ‘bad’ art? The answer for myself is invariably yes, as is the answer to the question of failing or underwhelming, but it’s an incomplete response. Yes, I’m afraid, and I understand why I am, and why ‘bad’ art is important. Being aware of the whats and whys brings about a …

Reasons to Explore Multimedia Art

There is nothing inherently limited by working in one media, there is value and power in a piece comprised of one substance with singular support such as oil on canvas, charcoal on paper, there’s dedication. Skilled artists are unrestricted and are capable of using their material to its full potential which is, as potential is, …

Learning to Flow

When doing anything, we tend to second guess ourselves or meet roadblocks built by our own unconscious hand. Getting things done means finding rhythm in our work, pushing forward. We can’t always be confident but we can do our best to be persistent. NaNoWriMo is a good example of learning flow, National Novel Writing Month …

Art Practice: Stream of Consciousness

Art practice is a tool belt. We collect exercises and processes to advance our creativity and ability to derive and hone in on inspiration. My fiancé’s professor recently advised the two of us to start every day with stream of consciousness writing.  Much like brainstorming (which I write about in Making Conceptual Connections in Art) …