Are you stymied by arts or crafts like me? Do you wish you could give your artsy heart wings? Join me as I shed my fear of failure, Finding My Artsy Heart.
It’s time, folks…time for me just jump in and tackle my mental block about art. I love art in all its forms – paint, pottery, weaving, sculpting, needle works…you name it. I was in heaven strolling through the Getty Museum a few years ago, every turn was something to feast my eyes on. But, when it comes to me producing something “artsy fartsy”, I damn near break into a cold sweat. Really…a cold sweat!
Talent or Imagination?
My problem has always been what I call my “bad creative eye.” Really, it’s like I have no creative eye. Pull an interesting outfit together with accessories? Sure that’s easy. Accessorize a room in my home? Heck no! I call on my dear friend to help with that. When it comes to actual art – like drawing, maybe with perfect planetary alignment I could copy something. But, to start from scratch? From imagination? Holy hell no! I can’t even draw halfway decent doodle flowers when I’m bored in a meeting!
I’ve been turning a burning question over in my head for a long time. Do people really have “talent”….or it is “imagination”? So, what’s the difference? My dear friend Merriam Webster says:
“Talent: the natural endowments of a person”
“Imagination: the act or power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality; creative ability”
“Creative: to produce through imaginative skill”
Words, problem-solving, innovation and strategy are where my talent and imagination activate, my wheelhouse. Art or crafts, not so much. So, how the heck do I kick start my art?
Preparation Master
I’m the perfect preparer. Master status, I tell you. I get the tools, whether I need them or not. And boy…do I get the tools. I even get the container for the tools. Then, I spend hours scrolling through my best friend, Pinterest, convinced if I just had a few samples that I could try to copy I could get rolling…or sketching…or painting….or gluing. Then I pin and pin and pin…and I never get started!
I don’t know why this happens. It’s not like I’m in school when I had to do a specific type of art – perspective drawings, soap bar carvings, pottery or clay sculpting, “dot art” which I suppose now they call pixel art (o.k., I just dated myself…pixel wasn’t even a word I ever heard ‘in my day’!), each of which gave me heart palpitations. No one’s going to judge my work like in school, no grade is involved. I’m not going to be compared against anyone but my own crazy failure paranoia, for Pete’s sake! Silly, isn’t it?
So…back to my “perfect preparer.” I’ve amassed an impressive pile of stuff for Finding My Artsy Heart. Truth of the matter is, I don’t even know what I really need to get started. Odds are pretty good that what’s in the pile is overkill or it’s not right so I’ll struggle with what I’m learning. And boy, isn’t that the perfect recipe for failure?! But, it’s time to put pen, pencil and brush to paper and get this train rolling.
Join Me
I invite you to join me as I embark on exploring art and crafts in all its wonderful forms. I’m starting with watercolor because it seems much more forgiving than any other medium at this point. I’ll be sharing links to great teaching videos I find, along with pictures of my work, both here on my blog as well as on Facebook and Instagram. I also invite you to share your work on my Facebook page. I’d love to have your inspiration to move me along!
How do you get over mind blocks or hurdles? Comment below!
