Too Busy To Be Creative
Show season has started and it's a bit of a frenzy with applying for shows and getting everything ready for them. Of course as a potter I have to start making pieces long before the show but it seems something is always getting loaded into the kiln in the last minute. If I don't make enough work far enough in advance I feel pressured which stifles my creativity.
Apparently I'm not the only person who feels this way as it's something I've heard people talking about quite a lot lately. These people aren't just artists but people that work in lots of different fields. Face it, lots of people want to have creativity in their lives. And why not, it makes life interesting.
While getting ready for Fired Works I started stressing about having 160 pieces ready for the show plus having enough pieces to fill the booth at ArtsFest at Georgia Southern and keep the booth filled for the other shows in April and May as well as keeping the galleries and stores stocked. I figured I needed about a million pots! Okay, that's an exaggeration but that's what it felt like. I was panicked into virtual paralysis. I did make some pots but I didn't like them. I was focused on the numbers and not on the work. It wasn't even fun.
I decided to change my focus back to being creative and let the numbers take care of themselves. Face it, if I'm making lousy pots I need less because nobody is going to want them. I'd rather sell out of good pots than carry home pots that my customers and I don't like.
The beauty of this change of mindset was that I was enjoying what I was making, I was excited about it again and so I made a lot more pots. I feel like I've got plenty of work for the shows and I enjoyed making them.
Check out the gallery page - Future Relics Gallery
Apparently I'm not the only person who feels this way as it's something I've heard people talking about quite a lot lately. These people aren't just artists but people that work in lots of different fields. Face it, lots of people want to have creativity in their lives. And why not, it makes life interesting.
While getting ready for Fired Works I started stressing about having 160 pieces ready for the show plus having enough pieces to fill the booth at ArtsFest at Georgia Southern and keep the booth filled for the other shows in April and May as well as keeping the galleries and stores stocked. I figured I needed about a million pots! Okay, that's an exaggeration but that's what it felt like. I was panicked into virtual paralysis. I did make some pots but I didn't like them. I was focused on the numbers and not on the work. It wasn't even fun.
I decided to change my focus back to being creative and let the numbers take care of themselves. Face it, if I'm making lousy pots I need less because nobody is going to want them. I'd rather sell out of good pots than carry home pots that my customers and I don't like.
The beauty of this change of mindset was that I was enjoying what I was making, I was excited about it again and so I made a lot more pots. I feel like I've got plenty of work for the shows and I enjoyed making them.
Check out the gallery page - Future Relics Gallery
Have known for years I must feed my MUSE.
ReplyDeleteMUSE never goes away but can be silent.
When MUSE is silent I change my pattern...that day.
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
Good way of thinking Tara.
DeleteOh yes, why do this if it is not fun? :)
ReplyDeleteWhy do anything if you don't enjoy it? It seems that many of the people who were lamenting that they were too busy to be creative where not artists.
DeleteLove the turquoise color on the pot, wax and wane, do what the muse says, she is always right in the long run.
ReplyDeleteThanks Linda. Good advice.
Delete