FIND YOUR START
I have completed three of these dress collage pieces. This is the second one. They seem so different to me than anything else I have ever created. They have stopped me in my tracks, so I am letting them sit, and I am moving on to other things. I started a fourth one but it felt like I was just cranking out a fourth one because I had to. I will come back to them, I’m sure. “Untitled For Now”, 10”x 8”, acrylic and collage on wood. © 2020 David Limrite
“The mysterious flow of creativity can be primed like a pump by physically and emotionally planting yourself in the physical space where you want that energy to flow.”
Twyla Tharp, Dancer/Choreographer
Find Your Start
One of the hardest things for me to do is to start painting. To make that decision to sit down at my work table or stand at my easel and put brush to canvas. To actually work. To choose to carve out time to paint, whether it is 15 minutes or 2 hours. And paint!
But once I start, I AM ALL IN!
It begins with a decision. Today, I paint. Now I paint. In an hour, I paint. This afternoon at 1pm, I paint.
There are so many obligations in any given day that beckon our call and tug at our coattails. There are so many things that can distract us away from our work.
It is up to US to “START” by making the decision to paint.
One of the things that helps me “start” (call it a ritual, if you will) is to take my water bucket and fill it with water. I paint with acrylic, so this has to be done anyway. However, this simple act of putting water in my bucket sends a signal to my brain that it is time to start painting. Filling my bucket with water makes it easier for me to start painting. Physically and emotionally.
It could be putting on your painting clothes or apron. It could be turning on your favorite music to listen to while you are painting. I know an artist who wears a certain baseball cap while she paints. When she puts on this cap, she tells herself and her family that it is time for her to paint.
It could be sharpening a few pencils, laying out the colors you are going to use, or reviewing your list of things that you want to do next to your painting in progress.
It is not cleaning and/or tidying up your studio. This is a procrastination technique and should not be used as a ritual to signify that it is time to paint. I don’t know about you, but once I start cleaning the studio, I never get to painting. Instead, save cleaning the studio for a day when you are not going to paint.
I am sure you can come up with some simple act or ritual you can do that will signal your brain “it is time to paint”. This ritual will also make it easier for you to start painting.
The important thing is to “find your start” so that you can get painting more easily and effortlessly.
Best,
David