Intention
Let's recap the subject of what a healthy art practice might look like.
A healthy art practice involves these 4 things:
It's intentional. I pay attention, take notes, ask questions. Learning is my job.
It's self focused. Meaning, it's primarily about me, my growth and creativity. The art I make is a result of that priority.
It requires devotion. I no longer see it as selfish or indulgent. I am creative and I finally acknowledge the significance of that through action.
It calls for honesty. It asks me to be willing to examine my part in my impasses and take responsibility for creating in a way I've always dreamed it could be.
A healthy art practice is intentional. For instance, this morning my art practice was all about studying leaves, and I used the gelli plate for this exercise.
My art practice looks so different than it used to. Prior me used to think I should ‘just know’ how to produce what I envisioned. I would launch in and just expect my paintings to show up, fully formed. I'm sure you can imagine (or maybe you know from firsthand experience?) how that led to many great disappointments and wrong conclusions that ‘I just don’t have the talent'.
Now I understand that a healthy art practice mostly involves intentional practice—this involves studies, notes, experiments, and development. When I intentionally put the emphasis on practice instead of exclusively on painting production or making something beautiful, I finally felt that shift I'd been looking for.
Here's the interesting thing:
In almost every career, most of us separate talent from the education required/experience needed. But, many times, in creative careers we are much more prone to believe that talent means ‘you just know how to do it’. No practice required. And if you find that you need practice, equate that to a lack of talent. See the trap?
Once I saw the flaw in this thinking, I was finally free to invest the time, money, supplies and love into the practice. I intentionally redefined my job as someone who learns and studies, and therefore is constantly in a state of growth. Now, I nurture my own development as a justified requirement of the job.
Here's the major AHA for me…producing paintings happens as an outgrowth of this practice. Since I made this shift in my thinking, my abilities, experience, and confidence has grown exponentially. I intend to become a skilled artist and will work at it the rest of my life.
Next up…allowing your art practice to make you beautifully, unabashedly self-focused.
