For all the creative people in the world, a large percentage of us have come to realize that at times, art can be very challenging. Why is that?
As kids, in one way or another, we were involved in some form of art, and it was often accepted by others around us. As we got older, we started to judge and value our art, and compare it to other people’s art.
As an art teacher for over 30 years, teaching 250 adult artists a week, I’ve seen a lot of people come through the studio.
The most important thing that I have observed is that desire and being teachable are the main ingredients for an artist to succeed. But that’s also the problem.
The Desire to Do Art
I read a book called “The DNA of Relationships”. It’s also taught at the National Institute of Marriage Intensive Workshops where 98% of the people who go there for marriage problems reconcile their marriage after four days and end up with the marriage they’ve always dreamed of.
What the National Institute of Marriage shares in this book is what they call a fear dance. We all have hopes and desires, safety, commitment, connection, acceptance, significance, we all have a group of words and we’re unique and different. We also have other cold buttons, things that trigger things, and cause us to have wounds from the past, and it reminds us of those wounds and then the part I want to talk about is the reaction. You see, the reason you have a reaction is because when someone’s hit your trigger button and you’re hurt from someone’s wound in the past, the reaction is to run, to get quiet and shut down. We all have our own reaction, that’s the problem with your reaction.
When you have a desire to do art, we’ll call that hope, wants - desires. For whatever reason, the minute it gets difficult or there’s fear, art may become difficult, then you have a reaction. That reaction sometimes shuts us down from listening and making steps in a new direction in a path we’ve always desired.
Spotting the reaction is the key, turning around and doing something about it is the second key. I heard something a long time ago, when you can see your shadow, turn around and face the light.
Give your heart and your art a chance. Start at the beginning in your art. Understand the fundamentals of the language of art.