Welcome to 2010! I had a blog post written about goals, plans, resolutions. But. It felt a little like blah, blah, blah.
I usually love talking about goals, plans, schemes… Just not now. Maybe it’s the “What are Your 2010 Goals” overload.
I do have business goals for my art. But every year as I think of what I really want to get done in the new year, making my art as good as I can make it is at the top of the list. What can I do to make my art SING?
I thought I’d share my favorite Robert Genn newsletter (from September 17, 2004):
One to another
Dear Artist,
Like a lot of us I get quite a few calls from beginning artists in need of advice. Sometimes it starts off with a technical question that leads to larger, more motivational questions. Yesterday a neighbor lady, Carmen, phoned and wanted “general, overall mentoring” leading to “guidance on what she wanted to do.” She had painted part of a painting that very morning and wondered if she could bring it over. I gave my usual: “Paint a hundred more and then bring them over.”
This letter is dedicated to the Carmens of this world. There’s a singular habit you need to develop. You need to build a regular productive rhythm that explores your own doing. It’s going to be a bit like chain-smoking–you use the last one to light up the next. But unlike a production line where all the products are the same–this conveyor belt will only exist in order to show development, variation, possibilities. Here are a few keys to a possible adventure in “one to another”:
Start up your line every day at the same hour.
Temporarily renounce other joys of your life.
Let no one and no thing interrupt your flow.
Supplement your imagination with books.
Let motifs and ideas grow out of themselves.
Keep asking yourself “what could be?”
Keep fresh–do not linger or anguish.
Be delusional–be full of “moxie” and “mojo.”
Let your processes become your governors.
Become particular about your tools and systems.
Take joy and optimism to your growing mastery.
Be always prepared to change your mind.
Fall in love with the actual doing.
Use your intuition to assess your progress.
Accumulate your winners and toss your losers.
If you do this every day Carmen, you will find out whether you’re cut out for it or not. If you’re not, that’s fine too–you’ll be able to get on with another side of your life. Give it a try. It’s not like it’s a lifetime commitment. And if you do get to a hundred please give me a call and come on over.
Best regards,
Robert
c) Copyright 2004 Robert Genn. Subscribe to the Painters Key newsletter.
On that note, I’ve pulled out a book from the bookshelf that I started and loved, but need to finish and take to heart: The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp.
How do you feed your creative habit? How do you find your mojo? Do you have studio routines to find your muse?
Image: Dream by Tricia McKellar
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
This is lovely! And so true, I think. In my mind, it boils down to “just do it.” I totally agree that you need to exercise your creativity as if it is a muscle. For that reason I’ve vowed to make something everyday in 2010, and I’ve been posting my projects on Flickr: http://bit.ly/6jGg1U So far so good! Thanks for sharing the Genn newsletter!
.-= Valerie´s last blog ..and the winner is… =-.
Great post! I love that you postponed the usual ‘goals for 2010′ post and gave us this instead, it’s so inspiring.
I have a pretty rigid routine mapped out for this year because I have to fit my work around my daughter (she’s two). Thankfully, she takes a long nap in the afternoon and I can use this time for creating. I find that once I’ve settled into a routine of creating/making at the same time everyday my mind gears up for it.
Again, really great post! ^_^
.-= Nem´s last blog ..The Slow Reader’s Club =-.
I love that Twyla Tharp book too, but I rely on Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way (and her tools of Morning Pages and Artist Dates) to keep me going and finding inspiration everywhere.
Excellent post- I have found this advice to be so profound-first off if you can do anyhing 100 times and not get tired of it-you are on to something!
.-= Robin Norgren´s last blog ..Little Tote….Little Diva….Make Believe….Dream…Dress up… =-.
Thank you. I ‘ve always noticed that the more I create the more there are things in my mind to create and now that I’m able to create all day each and every day due to a job lay off back at the end of September my work has changed and I can see it everything is much better and more relaxed.
.-= Debra Gilstrap´s last blog ..Burnt Orange and Cognac Amber Ring (Adjustable) =-.
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