Negative Beliefs About Art – Thoughtful Thursday

Copyright 2010 Valerie Jones

In the book, The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron states, “Much fear of our own creativity is the fear of the unknown.” I have tested this theory and find she is absolutely right! If I am fearful of a technique or medium, I have trouble starting new artwork.

The author lists some commonly held negative beliefs:

“I can’t be a successful, creative artist because:

1.   Everyone will hate me.

2.   I will hurt my friends and family.

3.   I will go crazy.

4.   I will abandon my friends and family.

5.   I can’t spell.

6.   I don’t have good enough ideas.

7.   It will upset my mother and/or father.

8.   I will have to be alone.

9.   I will do bad work and not know it and look like a fool.

10.   I will feel too angry.

11.   I will never have any real money.

12.   I will feel bad because I don’t deserve to be successful.

13.   I will have only one good piece of work in me.

14.   It’s too late. If I haven’t become a fully functioning artist yet, I never will.”

When we have these negative thoughts, they are just negative thoughts. There is rarely any truth to them.

Keep thinking about the negatives and you will become scared. You will start believing these negative thoughts and become too scared to create.

Julia also says, “Most blocked creatives carry unacknowledged either/or reasoning that stands between them and their work. ‘I can either be financially successful or an artist.’” She was writing this for me! I was taught through society that you can’t make a living as an artist.

Next time on Thoughtful Thursday, we will explore ways to turn these negative thoughts around.

Shadow Artists

 

Copyright 2010 Valerie Jones

During my absence this past month, I have been refueling my inner well.  After finishing a piece of artwork that drained me of energy, I took a break.  During this break, I have kept my creative juices flowing by cross-stitching.   I’ll show you the cross-stitch piece after it is complete.

Now to this week’s Thoughtful Thursday -

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. ~ Joseph Chilton Pearce

Are you one of those people who likes art and artists but are too fearful to start being creative?

I used to be one of those people.  Then one day I decided to stop admiring the work of others and try it for myself.  I am so thankful that I didn’t let fear get in the way of those first attempts.

In those first attempts, I wanted everyone to like my paintings.  One person in particular did not like my paintings.  All it takes is one person to put the fear of disapproval.  Even though that person didn’t like my paintings, I had enough support from others that kept me creating.  Don’t put your paintings under the bed  and stop creating if someone disapproves.   We aren’t here to please everyone.  We are all uniquely different.  What one person don’t like a lot of others will like.

Some shadow artists live their creative life through others.  They might marry an artist or become friends with an artist.

Another reason someone might not create is that all their lives they have been led to believe that art is a hobby.   We hear words like, “Making art won’t pay the bills.”  So, we find jobs that pay the bills but end up hating the work.

All it takes to create is a baby step toward that first piece of artwork.  Take an online drawing course, get a book on how to draw, or take a drawing class in your local area.  You will be the same age in 5 years if you take that first step or not.  Why not take that first step?  I took that first step 24 years ago. 

The Inner Well

Copyright 2010 Valerie Jones

Have you ever had a piece of work going so well and all of a sudden there is no creativity flowing from inside of you? Yep, been there, done that? I’m currently in the middle of that crisis.

I have an obligation to fulfill and I have become fearful of the creative outcome. I want to tune it out. I am working out of my colored pencil comfort zone. I’m working in acrylic and want instant gratification.

I need to fill the well. Julia Cameron says in her book, The Artist's Way, “the artist brain is the sensory brain: sight and sound, smell and taste, touch.”

“In filling the well…think delight. Think fun. Do not think duty. Do not do what you should do…Do what intrigues you, explore what interests you; think mystery, not mastery.”

Aah..yes…Think mystery, not mastery. I’m thinking mastery instead of the mystery behind the paint.

So, how can I refill the inner well? Cooking sometimes does the trick for me. Any repetitive action helps. Sometimes I’ll just sit and draw. The repetitive motion of the pencil moving back and forth is therapeutic. Listening to music is a great way to get the creative juices flowing.

Julia Cameron also states, “Our focused attention is critical to filling the well. We need to encounter our life experiences, not ignore them.” So, instead of reading while you commute to work, pay attention to what’s around you. The images you see can help refill the dried up well inside of us.

So, how am I going to refill my dried-up well? I am going to listen to some worship music. Worship music is a great tool for me because our creativity comes from God. Why not give something back to Him in the form of worship?

If you get the chance to refill your inner well, I’d love to hear how it happened.

Next time on Thoughtful Thursday, I’ll write about people who we call Shadow Artists.

Artist Dates

Copyright 2010 Valerie Jones

I am a firm believer in artist dates.  What is an artist date, you say?  Julia Cameron describes it best in The Artist's Way, "An artist date is a block of time, perhaps two hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist.  In its most primary form, the artist date is an excursion, a play date that you preplan and defend against all interlopers.  You do not take anyone on this artist date but you and your inner artist, a.k.a. your creative child.  That means no friends, spouses, children - no taggers of any stripe."

Oh, I've tried the tag-a-longs...it doesn't work, trust me.  They will distract you more than you think.  Some of my favorite artist dates have been taking a nature walk, going to art galleries, going shopping alone (yes, shopping), a photography class, and going to the bookstore.  You might say, "a photography class has people".  Oh, but I got to sneak away alone and snap photos of nature at the wonderful land of Woolaroc!

A great artist date is this weekend at the Price Tower Family Arts Festival in downtown Bartlesville, Oklahoma.   If you don’t live around these parts, be on the lookout for such events in your neck of the woods.

Artist dates have a way of refilling the well.  They unlock creativity buried deep within us.  I'll write more on refilling that inner well next week on Thoughtful Thursday.

The Morning Pages

Copyright 2010 Valerie Jones

“A mind too active is no mind at all.” ~ Theodore Roethke

Morning pages are something I have come to respect. They helped me on my journey to unblocking my creativity.

Morning pages are three pages of writing in longhand. No computers allowed. Morning pages are not in journal form but rather stream-lining what your mind is telling you. “Oh, I hate to get up. I want to sleep. The dog wants outside. Blah, blah, blah and so on.” You don’t even have to spell correctly or write neatly. Just write. If you can’t think of anything to write, write that you can’t think of anything to write. The words will come.

Write the first thing in the morning before the day starts.

As Julia Cameron states in The Artist's Way, “All that angry, whiny, petty stuff that you write down in the morning stands between you and your creativity. Worrying about the job, the laundry, the funny knock in the care, the weird look someone gave you – this stuff eddies through our subconscious and muddies our lives. Get it on the page. We write to get to the other side.”

“Even if we look like functioning artists to the world, we feel we never do enough and what we do isn’t right. We are victims of our own internalized perfectionist, a nasty internal and external critic, the Censor (satan), who resides in our left brain and keeps up a constant stream of subversive remarks that are often disguised as the truth. The Censor says wonderful thinks like: ‘You call that writing? What a joke. You can’t even punctuate. If you haven’t done it by now you never will. You can’t even spell. What makes you think you can be creative?’”

“Make this a rule: always remember that your Censor’s negative opinions are not the truth. Make no mistake: the Censor is out to get you.”

“Draw your Censor. If a serpent doesn’t appeal to you, you might want to find a food cartoon image of your Censor, maybe the shark from Jaws, and put an X through it. Post it where you tend to write or paint. Just making the Censor into the nasty, clever little character that it is begins to pry loose some of its power over you and your creativity.”

“Beyond the reach of the Censor’s babble we find our own quiet center, the place where we hear the still, small voice that is at once our creator’s and our own.”

Have you heard that still, small voice? I have…It can be found in the morning pages.

Creative Excuses

 

Copyright 2010 Valerie Jones

What have you ever told yourself or are telling yourself why you should not create? Me? I’ve told myself that I needed to wait until I had enough money. Hah! I could still tell myself that because I don’t have any more money now than I did before. But I create anyway. Teaching art classes help fund my addiction to creating.

It is never too late to start creating. I personally know an individual that didn’t start painting until she was 80. She had no clue that she could draw or paint. She now has some of the most beautiful paintings.

Now is the time to create. I could easily tell myself that I don’t have time to create. I have a husband, children, a house, and more than one job. How do I find time to create? After my work is all done and the children are in bed is when I make the time to draw. Yes, I said “make the time”. If you are busy like I am, you have to schedule the time or it will never get done. I would love the luxury of drawing and painting on a whim, but that isn’t always possible.

What’s your excuse? I’d like to hear what is going on in your mind about creativity.

Creative Withdrawal – Thoughtful Thursday

Copyright 2010 Valerie Jones

As I revisit The Artist's Way, I keep coming back to this phrase, “We ourselves are the substance we withdraw to, not from, as we pull our overextended and misplaced creative energy back into our own core.” We ourselves are the substance we withdraw to…huh? What does this mean to me? It’s not that I am withdrawing from myself, who I am. It is more withdrawal from my current life and looking back to the dreams I had for myself. Back to those God-given dreams. Back to that creative energy we once had before we displaced it in the dreams of others.

As I dig up those dreams buried far below the surface, I go through a grieving process. I grieve for letting them go. I get angry at myself for burying those dreams in the hopes of others. I take a time of mourning. The anger, grief, and mourning are preparing me for growth in a new direction.

Join me on this journey as I recover some of those lost hopes and dreams I have for myself. How do you recover your buried dreams?

Painting by Faith

Copyright 2010 Valerie Jones

One of my favorite quotes is by Amos Ferguson – I paint not by sight but by faith. Faith gives you sight.

Julia Cameron states in her book, The Artist's Way, that many of us wish we were more creative. Many of us sense we are more creative, but unable to effectively tap that creativity. Our lives feel somehow flat. Often, we have great ideas, wonderful dreams, but are unable to actualize them for ourselves. Sometimes we have specific creative longings we would love to be able to fulfill – learning to play the piano, painting, taking an acting class, or writing.”

Through the tasks in the book, we are able to tap into those dreams and ideas. While working through the tasks, a sense of defiance and giddiness occurs. It happened to me the first time I went through the tasks. While I found the defiance unwelcome, the giddiness was wonderful. Both experiences helped shape me into a different person. I’m glad I took the walk through the tasks to find the real me.

The book also states, “Many of us find that we have squandered our own creative energies by investing disproportionately in the lives, hopes, dreams, and plans of others. Their lives have obscured and detoured our own. As we consolidate a core through our withdrawal process, we become more able to articulate our own boundaries, dreams, and authentic goals. Our personal flexibility increases while our malleability (altered or controlled by outside forces or influences) to the whims of others decreases. We experience a heightened sense of autonomy and possibility.”

I still struggle with investing myself in the hopes, dreams, and plans of others. When I find myself doing this, I take to reading The Artist’s Way once again. It helps me to redirect my energies in a better direction.

Take a leap of faith and go on this journey with me.  I look forward to your company.

Experiencing Creativity

Copyright 2010 Valerie Jones

Genesis 1:27 - So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  NIV

Since God created us in his own image, we were made to be creative.  Look at nature around us and see God's creative handiwork!  Maybe we can't make a tree, but we sure can be inspired by what He created.

We are on a journey through the book, The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.  I agree with Julia 100% when she says, "Creativity is an experience - to my eye, a spiritual experience.  It does not matter which way you think of it: creativity leading to spirituality or spirituality leading to creativity."

She has a list of Basic Principles that I'd like to share with you.  She recommends reading them once a day and listen for changes in your thought system.

The Artist's Way
Basic Principles

by Julia Cameron

1. Creativity is the natural order of life.  Life is energy: pure creative energy.
2. There is an underlying, in-dwelling creative force infusing all of life - including ourselves.
3. When we open ourselves to our creativity, we open ourselves to the creator's creativity within us and our lives.
4. We are, ourselves, creations.  And we, in turn, are meant to continue creativity by being creative ourselves.
5. Creativity is God's given to us.  Using our creativity is our gift back to God.
6. The refusal to be creative is self-will and is counter to our true nature.
7. When we open ourselves to exploring our creativity, we open ourselves to God: good orderly direction.
8. As we open our creative channel to the creator, many gentle but powerful changes are to be expected.
9. It is safe to open ourselves up to greater and greater creativity.
10. Our creative dreams and yearnings come from a divine source.  As we move toward our dreams, we move toward divinity.

Creative Thinking – Thoughtful Thursday

Copyright 2010 Valerie Jones

In Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist's Way, she states -

“The idea that the Creator encourages creativity is a radical thought.  We tend to think, or at least fear, that creative dreams are egotistical, something God wouldn’t approve of for us. After all, our creative artist is an inner youngster and prone to childish thinking. If our mom or dad expressed doubt or disapproval for our creative dreams, we may project that same attitude onto a parental god. This thinking must be undone.”

As a woman, I have been taught that being having a career in creativity is not what women should do with their lives.  Creating art does not pay the bills.  Taking care of a husband and children is what I “should” do with my life.  (We’ll discuss the “shoulds” in life at another time).  I had to create affirmations to rid myself of this fear of God not approving of my artistic endeavors.  I went straight to the Bible for these affirmations.

Proverbs 31:10-31 is a great affirmation from God to women.  The verses that speak to me are 24 and 31.

Verse 24 - “She make linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.”

Verse 31 - “Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”

What do you fear?  What affirmations can you try?