I can sit and while away hours lost in paint, brush and thoughts. Often, I get lost in the art, conjuring up stories or scenarios that fit with a scene. Take the piece pictured to the left.  I imagined myself on this secluded beach, nestled in the rocks with a book, the sun glistening on my skin and the gentle lap of the ocean coming up to the shoreline. I transport myself to that place, if only for the time I am creating, even though it may be raining and windy outside. 

Some people create art for their pleasure, a form of relaxing, rejuvenation of the mind and soul and a pleasure entirely for themselves.  There is no intention for the completed artwork, only for the moment.

Hobbyist's create for the joy of a hobby that keeps them active, connected and enjoying their pursuits. Often,joining a group with likeminded creatives.

There is also the part time or full time artist who creates art for not only the joy but for the purpose of selling their works. Some are creating for the purpose of their work to be hung in a gallery or museum.

Ask yourself, am I creating this piece for:
it to be in a museum?
it to be in a gallery?
to be sold?
to hang on my wall at home?
me to have no expectation?
me to enjoy the time relaxing, having fun and forgetting what is going on in my life?
 
There is no right or wrong to any of the reasons we create art. When I am in the studio or out an about creating, I don't have anyone in mind, I don't create with the intention to put the piece up for sale.  I create for the joy, the experieince and the sheer enjoyment and pleasure of creating.  I personally think, for me, it takes the pressue off, it allows you the freedom to explore, break the rules, have fun, create without expectation.  If someone loves what I have created enough to purchase it, take it to their home and enjoy it, that is all I can ask for beyond my pleasure.    

Are you a creator or an admirer?  Leave your comments below.

Recently I was asked how many art classes I run. I totalled them up and this year it will be approximately 120 classes. I also attend classes weekly, sometimes if I can fit it in I will attend an extra class during the week.
Being up the front and running a class is very different than being a participant, that's for sure.

What I have learnt running the classes is everyone has their way of processing the reference they are replicating. Every person has their own style. You can have a room filled with ten people, all doing the same reference photo, yet, there are ten different interpretations. A part of the reason to factor in is experience. Art classes have a range of people with varying degrees of creating art. The main factor, I believe is our interpretation of the piece. There is no right or wrong, there is no good or bad. There is no perfect piece, there is no dreadful piece. 

When I sit as a student in an art class, I love the ability to learn from the teacher, experiment, practice and enjoy the process. Sometimes, my work at a class I would prefer to throw in the bin, yet I keep it to learn from it. I enjoy finding happy little accidents, solving problems and developing my skills for future work. I don't define myself by the work I produce in an art class.

I do see from time to time, a person wanting to replicate the reference photo exactly, like a photocopy. They admonish themselves for not doing it correctly or right. Occasionally, there are silent tears and bright red faces as the person tries their hardest to find perfectionism in art. Emotions come to the surface of "I'm not good enough", "my art needs to be perfect", and "everyone else is better than me". Negative self-talk that serves no purpose and is definitely no good.

Take Vincent van Gogh, one of the world's most renowned painters, yet he is synonymous with the term 'a tortured artist'. He died at the early age of 37 and sold only one painting. In ten years he produced almost 900 paintings and around 1100 works on paper.

Sadly, Vincent didn't get to see how some of his works are the most expensive in the world, his art style laid the foundation for future artists and he was one of the most influential artists in the history of art.

So, my biggest takeaway and advice if I may...... enjoy the class, learn the process, develop skills, use what you learn for future work and don't define your ability by what is done on the day. You do you, comparison kills creativity and joy.

What are your thoughts on comparison and self-talk? Share your thoughts and leave a comment below.

I remember years ago, I used to go to the hairdressers to get my hair streaked.  Sitting in front of the mirror with the cap on, hair pulled through tiny holes sticking out everywhere, it was an ugly sight. (i'm giving my age away!)
As I sat there waiting for the colour to develop I would put up with it knowing that when the cap came off, my colour would be vibrant and my hair would feel great.  Of course, there were many steps to getting my hair from looking like I had put my finger in an electric socket to coiffed and ready to take on the world with my new hairdo.  Can you relate?

So often in art classes, I hear from the room many times, OMG, this is ugly, followed by a big sigh.  Sometimes, I am asked for some more substrate to start again.  The fact is nothing is beautiful during a process.  Building a home, you start with an empty block, building on it and developing it over years to get it where it is today.  Baking a cake or cooking your favourite dish, you wouldn't eat part of it during the process, it would taste awful without all the ingredients put through the process.

The same is true when creating art.  It is a process, artwork has many layers to it.  Building on it, lovingly adding a brush mark here, a pen stroke there, mixing colours, adding subtracting, highlighting, toning down, mark making, pulling back.  All of the different components make up the work.  All artwork as with everything that has a process goes through an ugly stage. 

We wouldn't get up from the hairdresser chair and with the cap on and say "hey, this is ugly, I'm giving up on getting my hair done." or "Stop building my house, I wanted a landscape garden with a path to walk up to the front door, even though it's not there yet."  Get my drift? 

Art work is the same, it takes time, patience, perseverance, vision and faith.  Not every artwork will work out how you thought, it could work out even better.  If you give up, or walk away and not go back to it you will never know and you will never learn. 

I find if I am stuck and not sure what to do, I walk away for a little while and come back, looking at it with new eyes, a new perspective. I work through what I need to do to take it from the ugly stage to developing it further.  You never know you might just make your most perfect masterpiece if you work through the ugly stage. 

Does your artwork go through an ugly stage?  How do you overcome it?  Share your ideas and leave your comment below.