An Every Day Art Mind

Practice Art Every Day.

I love how things come exactly when you need them. I was recently reading LensWork and Brooks Jensen’s comments on an ‘every day art mind’.

But I automatically translate that to creating art every day.

What a lovely idea. I’m an artist. Of course, I should be creating art every day.

But who has time for that?

I certainly don’t. And the very thought of it makes me insane. One more thing that I need to do every day, along with getting enough sleep, eating healthy, working out, maintaining relationships, keeping up with social media and emails. It’s so overwhelming.

I recently did a little research and asked students, “when it comes to creating art, what is your biggest challenge?” Overwhelmingly I got a one-word answer, ‘time’.

But that is actually a lame excuse for something else. We all have the same 24 hours in a day, so why are some people more productive than others? Why are some artists more prolific than others?

Musicians know it. Athletes know it. You need to practice every day. And Brooks is right. Every day we should be thinking artistically and making it a part of your everyday life.

So, let’s break this down and not get overwhelmed. Let’s practice just like a musician or an athlete. Let’s do drills.

• Practice looking at things. Be aware of light and shadows.
• Picture a scene and think about the feeling and emotions that you’d like your viewer to experience. How you would tell that story with your artwork.
• Makes notes of interesting and creative ideas that you come across daily. Keep a journal somewhere of all the things that you love. See if you can find a correlation between all the things in your journal.
• Read, read, read. Explore how others create art.
• Try to see the world from another artist’s perspective.
• Review your past and current work. Look through your archives for those gems that you missed the first time or are only seeing now because of a new sensibility that you have established.
• Print your images so you can have, hold, and tape them on your office walls. Look at them daily and see what you feel.
• Get into the studio and do some work. Even if it’s only playing with colors or preparing your substrates.
• Hone your intuition and listen to what you gut is telling you.
• Think about art.
• Engage with other artists.
• Take a creative workshop
• Integrate your creative process into your daily life.

What’s that old joke?

“How do you get to Carnegie Hall?”

Practice, Practice, Practice.

There are not many of us who can go into the studio every day and create a finished piece and all that entails. But we can all practice and hone our creative mind on a daily basis.

I know I can make time for that.

Tell me in the comments below, how you go about practicing making art on a daily basis, especially when you don’t have time to get into the studio.

Be well….be creative,