Category: Reflections

I don’t know any artist that doesn’t paint intuitively. Even when you are classically trained, you still will put your own spin on everything you touch. When you think about it planning a business is a lot like that. You bob and weave till you find something that works, The bobbing and weaving is called failing in some places. However bob and weave is something everyone can relate to and it does not have a stigma as much as the word failing.  The word fail is tantamount to saying YOU ARE A FAILURE, at least that is what you think to yourself and pretty much everyone else does too.  I don’t even know a word with more emotional impact than failure. That keeps most people from trying and it keeps them living in a safe predictable way.  Fear of Failure can Paralyze you.

I was worried about my new business till I realized that nobody knows what will happen and planning till you are blue in your face , won’t guarantee anything.  You just have to do it a move ahead and keep going.  You have no idea what will happen , You don’t know what people will be put in your path that could be a tremendous blessing. Looking back over my life this has been the case dozens of times  and I am sure it has yours too.  But this time I am going to refer to the adventure as bobbing and weaving into what it will become instead of success or failure. 

That paradigm shift made the knot in my stomach go away instantly.

I started an art group to watch art videos and to discuss ways to make our work more visible in this town and to just support each others artist lives. It is so nice to talk to other artists about what you care deeply about that it is like being fed good food. It just feels necessary for life now . We have been meeting for a few months now and have plans to do projects together and see what we can do as a group.

Most art is done alone of course but then you have to go somewhere and talk about it . It is like processing what you just did.  I am really enjoying all the talent in one room.

I tossed out all my flatware and replaced it only with silver. Real silver is a different experience to use. The fact that it needs lots of care is one of the most charming things about it. Like a poodle that needs to be clipped every 8 weeks, you should give your silver a good cleaning. Unlike the poodle, silver is actually being worn away overtime you polish it . bits of it as wearing off and going down the drain with the tarnish. Such a delicate thing to eat with, but that is what makes it wonderful. How like life it is, slowing wearing away till till has a lovely patina from some of the under metal showing through.

I love the imperfections it gets and I love the tarnish. Some people just leave the tarnish and enjoy that. I love the wearing away , the living part of it, the dying part of it. How much more precious is a thing that is not going to last forever here.

That is why I love silver. In all its phases it is beautiful and a physical reminder to me that life is precious .

The art group decided to spend two weeks without any superfluous  media. No radio going in the background, no netflix, no Facebook surfing. The Silence is our exercise. When you are used to nonstop all of the above , it is very refreshing and different to not be doing any of that. We have to write a lot though so all the inside voices can be heard. This is only day one. The hours droned by this morning. I kept stopping reaching for a knob or a dial or a button. No no no . silent.

I weeded  a lot and watered everything and then clean up the kitchen then organized the kitchen then polished all the silver( I have three sets) then cleaned out the oven. then bought some furniture and a couple of paintings.

busy . I am working on everything art related in my mind while by body does all this busy work. I want to talk to the art group and see how they are doing but can’t because no Facebook. So I am stuck writing to who knows who.  Time goes slower  and slower . This quiet is calming and focusing and interesting. And this is only day one. 13 days to go.

I recently started a little art group for support and idea sparking and growth with a few art people I know. This has been a great exercise in realizing some hopes and dreams that have been floating around in my mind. It is one thing to think things another to actually do them.

All the group members have valuable input and it is vastly easier to group think plans than just be alone mull things over.

The biggest difference is action. It is hard to say you want something to someone else and then not do all the steps to get it . If you are alone, you will find a million excuses why something can’t start yet or some other reason for inaction.

I highly recommend making a group of creatives for yourself to benefit each other. There are literally dozens of reasons for doing so,

let me list a few,

Networking.. You have no idea what someone else might know

Bolstering  It is easier to do something hard if you have a cheering squad in the background.

Critic  It is important to get an objective opinion. If some ideas are bad, let them go.

In the box thinking . The magic of a small group is you can focus . Restricting your number to a few is easier to have time for everyone to really talk.

Out of the box thinking really needs go go back into the box for awhile for thinking about HOW to do what you want to do,

Group think is better than just one person thinking.

Various points of view are helpful because that is what your target audience is going to have. Finding a niche is great but it doesn’t mean that your niche thinks exactly the same .

Growth and Goals. It is hard to come to group and not have done something in the way of progressing toward the goal you said you had out loud in front of us.

Tweeking ideas can be done efficiently in a group . Groups are not perfectionistic and you will avoid falling down that hole. (example I spent 5 months trying think of my mission statement but I wrote it out in one night with a small group.

Avoid feeling alone with your problems. Hearing what others are striving to do and having to overcome is inspirational and sometimes you need a little boost,

Stories. you hear the different ways people go about doing something and it can help you with what you might be stuck on.

Encouragement You can see yourself as not just a little thing but actually a big deal .Really seeing other artists lives helps you see that you are important too and on a mission that is not to be taken lightly. Artists have pretty amazing powers and you are in that group so you must have amazing powers too.

Mirror. I hold my painting up to a mirror to see them differently. More removed.

A group will do that too when you bring your work to show.

Artist are a soft belly sort of people and it is good to protect each others belly emotionally.

These are just a few reasons. Go make one today.