Do you have a voice?
I’ve been thinking about the concept of having a voice in creating art quite a bit recently.
A friend and I were roaming through some local artist studios and since she has a doctorate in art history I asked the question…..what do you think of the art we’ve seen?
She didn’t miss a beat, “it’s nice work, but nobody seems to have a voice.” Wow…..she was right. The work we were looking at was lovely but didn’t say anything to me.
So, what is my voice? I’m not really sure. I guess I’m still in search of my authentic voice. My current style didn’t just emerge one day. My style has emerged slowly and steadily throughout the years. But what is my voice? What do I want to say with my work?
So, this has been percolating through my head, all while I’ve been decluttering and decluttering and decluttering. My physical space isn’t cluttered at all, it’s my computer space. I’m constantly taking screen shots and putting things in files for ‘later’ and looking how others are creating work, talking about their work, marketing, showing up on social media, and living their lives.
Well this week, I just threw much of it out. Didn’t even look at it. Just moved it all to the trash and deleted the trash. I’m tired of feeling like I have to constantly research everything I do. I realized it’s all just a crutch for me. It felt so freeing.
Instead I’ve decided to evolve and change. To be mindful and awake and find my voice, both in my artwork and in the running of my business. I’m consciously putting aside what isn’t in true alignment to where want to go and what I want to say. I’m finally finding the courage to claim myself and my voice.
The real question, for me, then isn’t to ask, what is my voice, but rather who am I and what am I doing in this world. It’s to stop looking at (and analyzing) what others are doing, and find my own path stemming from my authentic truth. I know then my work will be empowering.
Tell me, what you want to say with your work? What is your voice? Let me know in the comments below.
Be well….be creative,
Love this Clare.
Thanks JuliAnne. Hope your residency went well. Love the images I’m seeing you post.
Following your own path…. I think this is a brilliant way to go. Enjoy!
Thanks Ellen. I’m looking forward to the journey:)
I’ve been going through the same journey the last couple years. Finding my voice and then having the courage to embrace it as mine regardless of what others say or think. I struggle with finding words to describe it, but I’m getting closer.
Ahhhh, yes, courage to embrace it. That’s an whole different aspect of it all, but so important as well. I’m going to be digging deep to find that courage.
Hello Clare,
Your thoughts resonate with me and where I am in my soul-searching right now. Thank you. I look forward to joining you and the other artists at the workshop this weekend. I find myself attracted to simple images on my way from here to there. Twice I received a message in my fortune cookie that said “You see beauty in ordinary, simple things.” My grandchildren who were dining with me chimed together saying, “That’s you, Grandma!” With that in mind I’m find images that speak to my heart. Simple images, often overlooked beauty. I can’t wait!
Debbi Anderson
Do I bring oil pastel? Also, I have old dental tools, but no pottery tools.
That’s lovely Debbi…..so many can’t find beauty in ordinary things. Looking forward to meeting you as well. No need to bring oil pastels, I’ll have them. Any mark making tools whether they be dental, pottery, kitchen, or just ordinary things…..bring them along.
I am getting to know myself over time, as an artist, by my work. I intend to have a voice with some of my art but for other pieces, it may be a special image that I captured that I want to print on the perfect paper to enhance the image or enhance with encaustics, and then just share it. I am more of an “offering” person when it comes to showing/sharing my art. Here is it, I hope you like it too but if you don’t, no worries. The piece means something to me, represents something to me, regardless of how it is received, generally. Constructive criticism fits in an entirely different, and specifically beneficial category. I have the answer to you question about why I photograph trees. We live in a society obsessed with youthful physical perfection. We don’t venerate the experience of our elders and not everyone will develop sage wisdom as they age. Everyone can age with grace and dignity. I don’t photograph young trees – I photograph mature trees. The branches tell the life story of the tree. Mature trees have presence and are even beautiful as they go through the process of dying, which I also photograph. Older animals too, especially in the wild, wear gray hair and sometimes sagging bodies with dignity. Nature shows us that the spectrum of authentic beauty isn’t limited to young faces with features composed into the golden triangle. It shows us that it isn’t the adversity we face that defines us but the way we respond, persevere; and that no matter what we can continue to evolve into something beautiful. Every time I work, I learn something more about my voice as an artist. I guess at this point, I am not in a rush. I am enjoying the process. Website in my future…
I’m so glad you’ve been thinking about ‘why’ you photograph…..and of course that leads to ‘what is your voice and what you are saying with your work’. It’s so important that the piece means something to you, represents something to you, regardless of how it is received. You are on the right track…..and of course, our voices change over time or with different projects. We’re allowed to say more than one thing!
I don’t think you should have to concern yourself about your voice. Just do a lot of artwork and eventually you’ll begin to recognize your “voice.”
I agree with doing a lot of work Diane, but I do think you need to do this work thinking about what you want your work to say. I’ve seen many many artists create for years and they still don’t have a voice. Doing the work doesn’t create the voice. You have to be intentional about it.
A very inspiring post Clare! I find myself in a position of thinking I need to go in other directions, when maybe I don’t… I am all about finding some clarity in this quest to develop as an artist. The mind games have been driving me crazy lately. Thanks again for the inspiration!
I feel your pain Dianne….I think finding clarity can be the most difficult of all. I have faith in you though…..you’ll find it:)
You put to words so well what I often feel.
I am still searching but have an idea where my inner voice leads me to. To express that in my art is a different thing…sigh.
And as you did I constantly research and save articles and pictures for inspiration but then I have to many different things and don’t know where to start or I forgott completely that I ever saved them lol
Maybe its time to recycle 🙂
It’s so amazingly freeing Irene…..follow your own intuition. Yes, yes, yes, just recycle all of it:)
You definitely have a “way” with words Clare. Perhaps your next project should be an inspirational book. (with your own illustrations of course)
Moving in June. Encaustic not allowed in apt. Time to change directions. Your post was received with excitement for “new beginnings”.
Thanks Don…..appreciate it. An inspiration book with illustrations might be a fascinating project…..I’ll think about that:)
Good luck with the move. Maybe you’ll find another place where you’re can go to work on your encaustics!
Clare,
How would you define “having a voice”? Is it whether someone’s work speaks to you or not? If not, maybe you (or any of us) aren’t listening or not attuned to it for some reason. Or does it have something to do with a consistent style across many artworks? A quality that makes the work unique? Or work that somehow expresses an artist’s deep personality or essence? It’s a great question!
Those are all great questions Donna. Just because an artist has a voice, doesn’t mean that everyone is going to respond to it. But there are always some that will. It’s more important as an artist to focus on what you want to say, to understand why you do the work that you do, than to figure out whether anyone cares. Your job as an artist is to create the work.
I’m going through that right now, too, and your answers ring true. I’ve got to stop spending so much time looking at others’ work, and just listen to that still small voice inside me and heed its messages.
I’ve reached a certain level of skill as a photographer, and want to branch out into fine art. I was an art major in college many many years ago. But as I want to integrate the photography into mixed media I’ve forgotten what i wanted to say.
Inspiring post. Thank you!
YESSSS, listen to that small voice inside you and heed it’s messages…..they will get louder as you start to listen to them.
My problem is that I have too many ideas. Just walking around gives me new ideas as there is so much around that is visually stimulating. Trying to whittle ideas down to have a cohesive approach would be a good idea! And I need to have faith in what I do, not doubt it all the time. I feel that doing art to try and impress and to get it to shows is doing it all the wrong way round. Do it for yourself and the work will show integrity.
Couldn’t agree more Judy. I do the same thing. I just saw the movie Lean into the Wind about Andy Goldsworthy and his art. It inspired me how he just does the work and does it for himself first. Check it out if you can.
Oh yes, that film looks fantastic. How inspiring. What is so annoying is that I don’t think it’s coming to Australia. I’ll have to see if I can get it on DVD. Thanks for that.
It’s important to do for ourselves what is freeing and inspiring. But there is a fine line between being a free spirit while trying to guide others and being a teacher. A teacher is someone who can pass along her knowledge in such a way that that information becomes useable to her student. The true teachers in this world have a voice that speaks louder than all the others. They are confident, yet vulnerable, they are practiced and yet still learning. They are always looking for a better way to pass along there knowledge. They give hope and inspiration to those who admire and follow them. Throughout history the great painters have had students watching and learning, like the Pied Piper they follow because they are entranced by the work. All this to say, Clare, you are a true teacher your work speaks to the knowledge you have, your willingness to pass it along and to the dreams of the aspiring who follow you.
I am so humbled by this Cindy…..Thank you, Thank you, Thank you:) My heart is so full reading this…..
Timely thoughts. I was just sharing these same sentiments with several artist friends over the past week. One friend had just returned from a week long class with a well known Santa Fe encaustic/cold wax painter. What she came away with was to stop bouncing from one technique, idea, method etc to another and just focus on the ONE that resonates with you at the moment. By not “splitting your mind”, you may most likely come up with a body of work that says something other than how fragmented you are (and she looked directly at ME while saying that….guilty!) I, too, have files and files and Pinterest boards galore on “things to try”, etc. I’d bet not one is something about me or a message I really want to convey – even though I have sticky notes with quotes and words and snippets of snapshots with things that stick to me…. I have recently bowed out of several art shows coming up to just make art – not for sale, not for show – just for me. I should see the “Lean into the Wind” film mentioned here to keep reminding me why am I even doing any of this. Thanks for this most thought provoking article and all the insightful feedback. Much appreciated, Clare and everyone else!
Thanks for this Diana……it’s inspiring to me. YASSSS,’splitting your mind’, I am so guilty of that.