Artists Passion

NaNoWriMo crashed and burned for me this year. While I typed out a few of my best writing scenes, they were few and far between. It’s too bad I don’t have a version of this graphic on fire or in ashes; that’s how bad it got this year.

Sometimes creativity is like slogging through quicksand. We can’t get out of the hole we’re in, and when we try, we just keep sinking deeper.

Sometimes anything looks better than the project we’re currently working on. Why not do the dishes? Clean out the kitty litter box? Or, even better, take a nap?

I’ve had paintings languish on an easel at my mother’s house until she’s threatened to reuse the canvas for one of her paintings. If creating is so much fun, why can it be so hard?

There’s tons of psychological mumbo-jumbo to explain why we procrastinate, but the truth is, everyone does it now and again. And, the why isn’t as important as the how. How we can climb out of the quicksand hole we’re in. Here are five hows to get you through.

1. Start a routine.
Routine is the natural enemy of procrastination. Set up a routine schedule and stick to it, even if you have to strap yourself to your chair and stare at a blank canvas/ sheet of paper. Theoretically, you’ll get so bored eventually you’ll start working. This is best implemented in a location without a lot of distractions. For example, strapped into your chair you’d have no problem trolling the internet for hours, if your laptop was in front of you.

2. Make a to-do list.
This one usually saves me. I love checking items off of a list; it makes me feel industrious. Of course, you have to write the list in order to check things off, which can lead to procrastination about the list itself.

3. Work in smaller time increments.
If you have problems getting started for an hour of work, take the time down to 30 minutes. If you’re still procrastinating at 30, move the time down to 15. Even five minutes of work is better than no minutes of work. Set a timer and keep going if inspiration hits and you can’t tear yourself away from your chair.

4. Check your muse.
Do your best ideas come to you on the can? Do they come after watching your favorite horror movie or reading your favorite book? As a writer, it can be strange thinking that part of my job was reading books, magazines, and newspapers. But, it’s true. Allow yourself to do the most important part of your job, sowing inspiration.

5. Take a break.
Procrastination might be a sign you’re burning yourself out, which is the kiss of death to whatever you’re working on. Depending on what you’re doing, take a day or two off. It might give you the rest you need to start up again, this time gung-ho and ready for action.

For me, NaNoWriMo failed this year because I had too much going on in my schedule. I was happy when I could type out an entire scene; all of my writing began to suffer because of the pressure I was under from all sides. Now that school’s winding down, I’m back at the game, better than ever.

I wonder if JM would consider me a writer’s block whiner… Or, I guess, an artist’s block whiner.

It’s a little late, but I’m a big believer that we should be thankful for everything in our lives all the time. So, here we go!

1. My mother.
I’m thankful every holiday season she’s still around, and I’m especially thankful for all of the paintings that end up on my walls.

2. Web Urbanist.
I love the urban art and legends I have at my fingertips because of this site.

3. Sugar ‘n Cream and Peaches and Cream yarn.
These 100 percent cotton yarns are my material of choice for all of my knitting creations. Even blankets, towels, and stuffed animals come out perfect when I use pure cotton.

4. Bamboo knitting needles.
I started knitting on aluminum needles. They would soon have dark pits and gouges in the metal. The colored coating would flake off, and the feeling of the metal grating on metal would set my teeth to grinding. Bamboo works a lot better for me. The needles don’t make my teeth grind when they rub together, and the thinner ones eventually bend to fit in my hand better.

5. Play Doh.
This is probably my favorite children’s toy. It is also the bane of mothers everywhere who have to pick the tiny Play Doh bits out of their carpeting.

5. Squid knitting patterns.
I found the pattern I use on Etsy, and I’ve modified it a few times to come out better.

6. Etsy.
I love the patterns. I love the finished products. Finally, a place I can find hand-printed greeting cards, home-made stuffed animals, carefully crafted jewelry, and so much more.

7. Crafting Out Loud.
It’s my local craft fair. It moves from place to place, but it’s a great place to buy more hand-crafted items for holidays, birthdays, and every day in between. Type in “craft fair” and your city to find a craft fair of your very own!

8. Crafty Chica.
She’s witty, outspoken, crafty, and colorful. I love reading Crafty Chica from my RSS feed. She’s everything I’d eventually like to be: a keen professional who crafts, manages a household, and covers everything that crosses her path in bright colors. I’m thinking of making shadow boxes as one of my next projects. Even though I don’t think I have a drop of Latin genes in my gene pool, I’ve always been attracted to the bright beautiful colors and interesting themes in Latin culture and artwork. I love pretty much everything she does, and she has her own video series online for crafting!

9. Paper Magazine.
I love fashion, especially when it isn’t homogenized mainstream fashion. I also love drag queens. Paper gives me walloping doses of both as it covers the newest trends. I like to think of a lot of its coverage as guerrilla fashion.

10. Mac cosmetics.
Mac looks are a work of art. I also consider it the number one makeup line for drag queens, which is another reason for me to wear it. It’s also a great line to wear for artistic photo shoots and fashion shows, thanks to the large variety in products and the high quality of products. Although, Sephora can be a better place to shop, just because of the large variety of products and brands available. Plus, the staff on hand is an invaluable resource if you’re not sure what you should buy.

My mother has always been an artists. She’s also always been a very practical woman. She paints from photos, and her art usually consists of flowers, beach scenes, and forest creatures. There is only one time I can think of where she let her creativity have full reign. And, the result scared her. Scared her to the point that she destroyed the painting.

It started out as a tree with souls. It was really cool. Then, a kid emerged playing on a swing. Then, a figure emerged behind the kid. From there, the painting took on ominous undertones. My mother couldn’t deal with the images sprouting from her subconscious, so she killed them.

Some artists embrace their darker sides. There are horror movies, horror paintings, heavy metal and other kinds of music dealing with the scary recesses of the brain that hold the creepy crawlies of our minds. Justin Stanley creates sculptures and prints of fantastical torture, for example.

I’m all for creative license, but I can understand why darker art intimidates some of the ordinary folks out there. Some subject matter is hard to get through, and a good piece of art does have an impact on its audience. Everything we see, hear, taste, touch, or smell changes a piece of us before its through.

However, I believe every piece of art out there deserves to be put out in the public sphere, so everyone out there can make up their own minds. Even if a piece makes me uncomfortable. Then, I read The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum.

It’s based on a true story; the novel is about a 12-year-old boy whose neighbor chains a teenage girl in a bomb shelter in her basement and lets the neighbor children torture her for fun. To them, it’s a game.

The novel is a study on how ordinary people can get caught up in evil; it was very hard for me to read. I had to stop and start to get through it, and I was emotionally tired afterwards.

Does the subject matter of a group of people getting together to torture a young girl bother me? Of course. Do I believe it is immoral for a woman to allow kids to torture one another? Of course. Do I think Ketchum should be banned or censored because of the content? Not at all.

Things like this happen all of the time, and Ketchum wrote in a special section of the novel that he wrote The Girl Next Door because some people scare him, and the story of a real=life woman who also let neighborhood children torture a girl in her care was haunting him. I also think it’s important for people to let themselves feel uncomfortable every once in a while. We live in a society where we insulate ourselves from bad feelings. In safe settings, like while viewing a work of art or reading a book, bad feelings can help us grow.

They also help us see where we stand in society, and they can help us move forward in intentional living. Seeing there’s something wrong can help us find remedies. Are you worried about the environment? Take some time out of every day to actively take care of nature. Worried about all of the food recalls out there? Read up about your rights as a consume and what the government’s really allowed to do for you. And, when life gets you down, go out and create, even if it’s just for therapy. Even if the outcome disturbs you and will never see the light of day.

But, even if even you can’t stomach your work, someone may still get something positive out of it.

Just something to think about.

As I promised before, I’m going to include tips on living with passion in all aspects of life but with an emphasis on art.

Spontaneity is important not only to an artist’s life, but also the the lives of everyone on this planet. While routine and order can be calming and set us on the path to achievement, it is also important to follow the winds every once in a while. They will take us where fate decrees.

If we don’t act spontaneously every once in a while, we miss out on hidden opportunities. The muse might strike at the beach while we’re holed up in our homes in front of our computers or in a quiet coffee shop while we’re watching TV. When days begin to blend in together, it’s time to put away our ordinary things and do something a little bit crazy.

Spontaneity is also a path towards creativity. In a previous post, Anjuelle wrote:

The mind likes order, as it should. Spontaneous occurrences disrupt the routine flow of things. But creativity is about messiness, abrupt changes in the moment.

If spontaneity is so important, how can we begin to embrace it in our lives? By taking small steps.

For some, deciding at some random moment to go skydiving is a regular part of daily life, but for the rest of us, such extreme measures aren’t realistic. Embracing spontaneity can be as simple as singing along with the radio, kicking off our shoes in the park and dancing, or lying in a grassy patch of sunlight. A next step might be taking an afternoon to go to the beach or teaching a child how to whistle. With each new step, the extraordinary becomes ordinary, and we open ourselves up to new possibilities.

Watching children feed ducks might lead to a new short story or a weekend silent retreat could become a tranquil oil painting. The way we view the world changes with each new experience; it’s up to us to cultivate these experiences to make an interesting whole.

I realized that more could be said about Orianna Kurrus and her art than just a single link to her page. In my first post, I displayed the painting I have hanging up in my own home, “Blood and Cupcakes.� I love it so, even though friends who have seen it call it creepy.

Here’s what I know about this enigmatic artist. She is an ex-clown for hire. She lives in Virginia in a commune full o’ hippies. She is Jewish and integrates many themes from her faith into her art. She loves dolls, especially ones splashed with blood or an acceptable blood facsimile. She’s a Southerner at heart, even though she loves Boston. And, she’ll barter her art for coffee, which is how I got “Blood and Cupcakes.� I did some modeling for her when she lived in Florida, which was definitely an interesting experience.

I love her whimsical and sometimes outrageous style.

Speaking of whimsical, according to Web Urbanist, there is a man making art by making tiny, tiny cityscapes with tiny, tiny people in them. So, keep your eyes open! You might just find one. I especially love this one of a painting falling in an art gallery and wreaking havoc in the city below, although it’s weird to see the Domino’s Pizza in there.

And, last but not least, there is a new contest out there for jewelry makers. Find the details here.

I know my predecessor spent a lot of time contemplating what makes the universe tick and how to work with inspiration and muses. In the next few posts, I plan to put my own spin on these issues as well as introduce more artists, artistic contests, and lifestyle concepts. Let the good times roll.

When I found out I was going to start writing for Artist’s Passion, I delved into the question, “What is art?” I go by the artistic mantra that anything I find pleasing and is made by human hands is art. Knitted scarves are art. So are masterfully prepared dinners. Paintings, sculptures, and even hand-made candies can also fall into this category.

So, what isn’t art? Do paintings made with animal dung or human urine still fall under this broad topic? What about a picture painted by a dog? A painting made by a disabled man for therapy? A sculpture constructed by a robot? Is the robot itself a piece of art?

I plan on delving into the subject of art with passion and ingenuity, presenting the art I like, the art I hate, and broadening my horizons as much as possible.

Since this is my first post for Artist’s Passion, any feedback about great artists, artworks, or art events is much appreciated. As a closing thought, here is my favorite work of art in my current collection. It is entitled Blood and Milk and currently resides over my bed. The artist, Orianna Kurrus, has an Etsy account where she routinely sells her art from her home at a commune in Virginia.

Why I love it: The colors are vibrant. The little girl’s hollowed eyes are intriguing to me. The mixed media approach to the little girl’s dress add texture to the overall work. Even with her teapot full of blood, it almost seems the tentacle-like trees are an ominous danger. It gives me something to ponder as I drift off to sleep at night.