You Had Progress And Now You Don’t

Where do your new ideas come from these days?

My morning reading starts my mind working.

I can read one word or short phrase that will stop the reading.

I will stop reading and write down the thought or words in a journal. Sometimes it may be just “one” word! There are times I will create a new article title with that word just to remind me … hopefully of the train of thought it started. If I am lucky, I can return to it at another time, and the ideas will return.

Being an artistic mind of any kind requires new ideas!

That new word or phrase can take my thoughts to a new painting, or even what I should try on one already started that has been giving me fits. Besides artwork, it may be an article or newsletter that it inspires.

It may give me an idea of something new to try in my teaching. Students of many levels of ability require different creative methods, thoughts, and ideas.

Students come to me to learn because I have been teaching for over 30 years. I teach traditional art and theories. I always ask questions, so I teach to what the student’s interest is and those needs.

Traditional methods apply to abstract art as well … and everything in between. So, don’t let that I teach traditional methods hinder you from doing something considered “abstracted” or “outsider.”

So you are creative!

The ideas I teach apply to almost anything creative you are doing.

If you are writing, it may be the impetus for a new article or newsletter. Because I talk a lot about the artwork aspect does not mean it is the only way to use creativity.

Anything creative you are engaged in can benefit by reading about other successes. Those words of successful outcomes may give your so many more ideas. I am all about ideas or words I can write down to inspire me to try new methods.

When I am stuck my next thoughts are important. That journal entry may be one I flip back to in days to come as well as today!

Make it a habit to have a journal near at all times.

Now, back to the “not having success” at this moment in the creation of yours.

Well, why not? You should ask yourself! I know… we all get stuck. That was the thought behind my title at the start of this article. Words are wonderfully inspiring in many ways.

The journal I mention above has words and phrases in it that, at some point, you were inspired to write down. Make a habit of going to your journal to be inspired again.

Possibly you even wrote a sentence or two with the original inspiration to give you a starting point for something new to try.

Are you doing this for the fun of it? Figure out what your motivation is! Why do you do what you do?

Where do new ideas come from to keep your work fresh?

This is different from the discussion above. Taking a break from creating is essential. We call it “refilling the well!”

Whatever your subject matter is, you need to leave the studio. Leave the familiar surroundings where you create. See something new. Visit a place with some “link” to what you are doing.

For me and my students, it is gallery and museum visits. Look at a new art book! If you paint flowers, visit a flower garden … remember … if that excites you. If you paint horses, then visit a farm with horses, a rodeo, or anything remotely related to horses.

I think you might get my drift here?

Refill that well! If possible, sit and observe quietly. Learn to enjoy the moment of beauty. What makes you smile? Listen to the sounds around you. Is the sun shining? Are birds singing? Is it warm, cool, or windy?

This is all about internalizing what you see and hear. Building memories to draw on when creating helps immensely! We are the sum of everything we see and hear. It becomes a motivation, or it could be a memory that surfaces at just the right time.

Those are what bring joy back into what I do. If you are creating, it is usually an emotional thing and visual.

So you are not a painter? What are you?

If you are a cook, you need to visit a restaurant you usually would not go to. With any endeavor you are experimenting with, take this idea and run with it!

Whatever you do creative, think about new experiences. This could be where your new ideas will come from. You may combine two things others haven’t thought to do! Yay!

For me? What do I do?

I paint in pastels, oils, or acrylics. So a good idea for me is to switch and paint in the “medium” that I have not been using. Each of those mediums informs the others.

What I do in one, I try to figure out how it works in the others. I try new paint colors I don’t normally work with and different techniques.

One “BIG” thing I do … I do not call them paintings, but studies instead. I take the pressure off to make it a product. The doing of the art, or the process, that should be fun! It may turn into a “painting” if I get out of my own way!

Believe me when I say there are stacks of unfinished “studies.” I take those and work on top of them with total abstraction and then see what I can pull out of that. Fun, fun, fun!

Sometimes, it may just be one tiny minor tweak, one tiny change, one small dot of color that makes it sing a little differently.

It does not need to be a “knock them dead, different thing!” I have found that people are more engaged when not everything is spelled out for them in the first viewing. Finding and discovering something new each time it is looked at is fun. I often get told this by someone who has purchased one of my paintings.

I hear, “Many times when I look at your painting, I see something I had not seen before. I love that!”

For me personally to stay excited?

I experiment in my own art with abstracting to develop new ideas. Remember, I said I am a traditional artist. My work is considered realism or impressionism. I am a combination of both.

Trying something new and experimental … for me anyway… is what keeps me excited.

What new ideas can you come up with for yourself Make a list of them.

And no matter how bizarre your thought … Write. It. Down.

It could be just what you need.