vitaminCreativity

Clearing again

There comes a time for all of us, I'm sure, when we must put away our toys and clean up our mess before starting the next game. That's where I am in my creative process this weekend. I'm wrapping up two classes - one oils, the other acrylics - and I have two different painting "kits" filled with all the various supplies that go with me to classes. Time now to unpack, clean up, review my inventory, and prepare for the next project.

I used to look at this as a waste of creative time, but now I'm seeing it as part of the creative process. It's an opportunity to think creatively about reorganizing my space; about re-using some leftover materials; and about that wonderful space (literally and psychologically) that is ready to be filled with something wonderful.

It's also a good time to review the business plan, including attention to framing and preparing for fall exhibits. 

If you have any clearing rituals between projects, I'd love to hear about them.

The Thrill of Completion

Today I took five newly completed paintings to be photographed so that I'll have digital images for my records and for possible entry in competitions. This is the beginning of my new series I'm calling "Landscape Jazz." They are improvisational, drawn-from-imagination/memory, and semi-abstract. I think most viewers will clearly see land forms, but the colors, in most cases, are more intense than nature.

My internal critic has been strangely silent as I've worked on this set of paintings. Perhaps I'm happily oblivious to my artistic errors, or maybe the paintings are really good. Maybe six months from now I'll look at them and wonder, "What was I thinking?" But for now, it's quite exhillerating to feel like I've completed some pieces worth photographing, framing, hanging, or selling. 

And with this accomplishment, I can check off one of my goals for June. The problem is I don't want to lose momentum...I want to keep working on this series and "to hell" with the other goals on my list! "Calm down, Sue, moderation in everything," I tell myself. The challenge now is to keep up the momentum while still keeping those other goals on my calendar.

I'm posting in Daily Art the first of my series - "Boulder Jazz."

Working My Plan

The planning I did last week made me feel more in control of my creative life. But it does no good if I don't work my plan. That's what I'm doing this week. As in all of life, the plan - and working it - is a balancing act. I have certain life/work maintenance activities that I don't particularly love to do, but ultimately they support my ability to create and to live the life I want, so I've stopped looking at these activities as drudge work, and I see them instead as part of the creative process.

For example, my office had become so cluttered that it was one big tripping hazard, not to mention a major mental distraction from the things I want to create. Yesterday, I spent most of the afternoon clearing all the surfaces, including the floor, to remove those hazards and distractions. I feel so much better! This has freed up my mind and time to do the more creative things in my plan. This afternoon, I'll return to some paintings I started last weekend, and by next Monday, I'll be able to check off several action steps toward my monthly goals.

The real key to planning and working the plan is my calendar. I could daydream a zillion things I'd like to accomplish in a month. But I can only DO what fits on my calendar. So plugging activities into the calendar, realistically estimating the time they will take, prevents overly optimistic goals and eventual disappointment. The calendar forces me to prioritize and balance.

If you need help finding the balance in your creative life, send me a note.

Sigh...relief!

Yes, it's a sigh of relief you're hearing from me today. Yesterday I completed one phase of a writing/editing project for a client. I had my second art class project critiqued (very positive). And I met a few other important, but less last-minute-rush deadlines. I gave myself permission to sort-of-relax on the sofa last night with feet up and an ice pack on my knee, which I must have twisted in my mad dash to cross a street with the crossing signal in my favor.

I say "sort of relax" because as I sat there with feet up, drinking tea, and popping M&M Peanuts, I was sketching thumbnail compositions for my next class art project - a mixed media self-portrait that must incorporate a grid and a stencil. It seemed overwhelming in its unknown/untried mix of requirements until I had done a sketch or two. Now I'm beginning to see how I will get this done and I'm getting excited!

That's the most exciting part of the creative process for me - thinking, visualizing, planning. The actual "doing" of it is exciting, too, but sometimes so filled with risk and fear that I feel more anxious than excited, at least until I dive in and start to make the vision a reality.

Now I'm on to new visions, new projects, and new deadlines. See the Daily Art album for my latest painting.

Vacation is over!

It seems I took an unintentional vacation in the last half of December! Perhaps you, too, have experienced those times when "life happens," your best intentions are either forgotten or put on hold, and you are in "response" rather than "pro-active" mode. Well, it's a new year, with new intentions and goals, and it's time to get my creative life back to some semblance of control.

I sat down on Christmas Eve and began the process of reviewing 2008 and planning 2009. It's always a humbling and energizing experience. I may not have achieved all my '08 intentions, and, while I can learn something by analyzing why some things didn't happen, I don't need to dwell on the negative. (Ironically, as I'm writing this, I just realized that the song playing in my iTune playlist is that old standard "Accentuate the Positive!") So, looking ahead, I can certainly focus on all my positive intentions and make plans to achieve them.

My planning process starts with a vision of where I want to end up in December 2009 - How will I be different then than now? What do I want to be able to say I've accomplished? How do I want to feel then, compared to now? With that vision in mind, I can then plan quarter by quarter, or month by month (even day by day) what I need to do to achieve that vision. 

I'll share other planning tips as the year goes on.