(a page from my art journal)
" I am the dance step of the paintbrush singing. I am the sculpture of the song, the flame breath of words giving new life to paper. Yes, I am the creativity that never dies. I am the creativity that keeps my people alive."- Alexis De Veaux
I recently picked up a copy of Somerset Studio and the entire issue was on creating fearless art! I read every page...cover to cover! It's something I want to do too...be brave in my creating. I suspect that many of us feel that way. It may not be painting particularly but...maybe writing poetry or signing up for a pottery class or...just living a braver life! So I wanted to share a page from my art journal on creating fearless art and...I think all of these can be applied to...well, anything really!
* make mistakes! make tons of them! it's how we learn and hey...some of those "mistakes" turn out to be happy discoveries.
* have courage to work through the "ugly" phase. Sometimes we may feel as if it will never turn out the way we want or we have no idea what we are doing. But...who knows what's waiting at the other end if we just stay the course.
* it is the process that's important. Not every painting is going to work out; some may be quite hideous! But we may have to paint 10 canvases to produce a really amazing one.
*bring your heart into your art! The reason why some artists still speak to us (Van Gogh, Frieda Kahlo, Modigliani...) is because they had the courage to bring all of who they were to their art; their frailness and vulnerabilities...their human-ness.
(my girl Tara...she's fearless in creating!)
* don't remain stagnant, keep on growing! There is so much to learn and experience and...the person I am today is certainly not the same person I was last year.*paint over the good stuff! Don't become too attached to any one part of a painting...sometimes we have to get rid of the stuff we like to make room for the new.
Well, what do you think? Is there more you would like to add to my list? I would love to hear about it!