Invest + Bet on Yourself.
I usually write these blog posts in advance, but it’s Monday morning and the post should have gone out 2 hours ago and I find myself sitting at my computer continually checking my emails and procrastinating.
Well, the universe just provided for me. There is a theme that has been ruminating in my head, but I hadn’t put a word to it yet.
I get emails from Creative Mornings Global…..and the one that just hit my inbox is telling me that February’s theme is Invest. More specifically, the Investment Theory of Creativity by Robert J. Sternberg. “The greatest obstacle to creativity, therefore, often is not exactly strictures from others, but rather the limitations one places on one’s own thinking.”
Damn. Ain’t that the truth.
Over Christmas I read The Illusion of Money by Kyle Cease. It opened my eyes to ways of investing in myself. To really think about the ways that I’ve been chasing results and how to look for ways to open up to creativity.
It’s not easy for me to really truly invest in myself. I missed that lesson in childhood and the adult me doesn’t really know what to do with it. I’m a people pleaser to the core. Oftentimes at my own detriment. And I do the same with my art. I create work that I think will be pleasing to others (aka sales) and not what comes from within. Honestly, it’s my biggest struggle.
My studio renovation is almost finished. It’s been a long slog (loads of mold, dampness, demolition and rebuilding). The new walls went up last week and I’ve spent the entire weekend painting and putting everything back together.
I found myself writing on my studio wall the other day. Sort of a prayer to the universe to guide me in my creative endeavors….as a way to open up and ask for help in lifting my limitations. This prayer is now covered with paint, but I know it’s there and will start every studio session with running my hands over the prayer and centering my intentions.
Through this renovation process, I have been limited in the work that I could create. At times, it’s been frustrating. But it’s given me an opportunity to stop, re-evaluate, and try some new ideas.
I’ve been experimenting with different canvas sizes and wanted to introduce you to a new sculpture series. This piece is created on 4×4 boards and is 18 inches tall…..it’s one of the ranch horses from my Photo Encaustic Equine Workshop in Wyoming. I love the concept of the piece and will continue to let it evolve.
My dining room is currently full of paintings. Work that I had hanging at Water on Water in Excelsior. The gallery has closed, and my work has come back to me. And as I look at the work, I realize it’s work that was created while trying to please others.
It’s time to invest in myself and create work with more complexity. Work that is more attune to where I’m at right now.
People are often aghast when I tell them that I destroy work. But I do. And much of the work in my dining room will be destroyed and re-created. The old limitations will go. And there will be room to create new work. Room to put my energy and my heart. Room to say ‘yes’ to different choices. Room to convert my doubts to positive currency and bet on myself.
There are a myriad of different ways to invest in yourself and your creativity. I’d love to hear what you do.
Be well….be creative,
“And as I look at the work, I realize it’s work that was created while trying to please others.”
OMG, I just had this same thing happen to me — but with the work I’d completed for the Thesis for my Master’s degree in Writing. It struck me as almost an out-of-body sense of: “who wrote this?” – a weird, tangible estrangement from myself. There were even some sentences where I could precisely see the influence of an “expert” over my words (vs. my authentic voice).
Here’s to investing in our selves, and allowing our true voices to shine! <3
Yes, Yes, Yes…….Why oh why is it so hard to let our authentic voices out?
Looking forward to hearing your’s more:)
Hi Clare,
You mentioned a few months ago that you were developing a new class that was specifically about printing and painting encaustic on tissue paper. Is that still in the pipeline and if so, when will registration open?
Yes, it’s still in the pipeline. Hoping for a March launch date, but haven’t set that hard date yet. I will let you know soon…..I promise:) Thanks for asking about it.
Love, love, love every word of this!
Thank you Bama!
What you shared about pleasing others is the real reason I originally quit professional photography. I couldn’t do work anymore that was all about the income. I lost so much of myself in that. I was working non-stop and not happy.
It would be nice to find a balance today… One where I can creat art, be true to myself, yet still make some money. At least to cover expenses!
I totally agree Michael…..it’s all about finding that balance:)
I love this blog! So inspiring: the reminder of the “prayer to the universe to guide me in my creative endeavors….as a way to open up and ask for help in lifting my limitations. This prayer is now covered with paint, but I know it’s there and will start every studio session with running my hands over the prayer and centering my intentions” The hidden prayer that you can see….. from within. Those are the best.
Thank you! For sharing with us.
Thanks Marla. This is why I do the blog…..to inspire. Thanks for reading it:)
Hi Clare,
I loved the post — and can identify with it on so many levels! I’m a middle child and a notorious people pleaser and like you, it’s been a long struggle. That stops NOW, right? I’m curious what you mean when you say you sometimes destroy your work. I do the same thing — typically by covering previous “experiments” or art that was less than successful — with different media. Is that what you mean? As I write that, I ponder whether there might also be some therapeutic value in not just covering it up, but smashing it to pieces. LOL.
Thanks Jeanne. When I destroy work I usually rip the photos out and use the backgrounds for another image. It’s not as drastic as it may sound…..I don’t smash the pieces, but they do take on a completely different image!
One of the sayings I try to go by ‘is the short version of this. “You can’t please everybody, so you might as well please yourself”. As with much wisdom, easier said than done.
I agree….sometimes easier said than done:) But still good words to live by.
There are so many things I could say to respond to your words here! Staying true to ourselves is such a difficult concept…and it shouldn’t be, really. I think it starts way back in childhood. So many of us are taught that we must conform to the rules and others’ ways of thinking instead of teaching us to think for ourselves and march to the beat of our own drummer. And now we have social media where the more likes we get seems to mean we have to conform even more if we want “to be liked!” I was one of those people, until last year, and it has been SO DAMN freeing! Thanks for your posts…they are inspiring and sometimes very thought-provoking! (And I, too, am impatiently awaiting your tissue print class!!!) 🙂
Thanks Bea…..it’s always nice to know my words resonate with people. I appreciate your comment. More on the class soon…..very soon!
Working from your true self but also not letting anything become too precious to you personally. I am finally able to paint over or lose parts of things I love but just are not right for the piece or something that isn’t working in the way it should. Hmm, is that a metaphor for people too? 🙂
Our guts will tell us eventually what is right in a piece and what is not. It can take courage to paint over or lose parts of an image, but that is the transition of a piece. It doesn’t always come together at first. Sometimes it takes time!