Hey There My Artistic Friend!

Here’s this week’s Art Inspiration Hit List–a few links to wonderful artwork from around the interweb to get you thinking, dreaming, and creating.

I hope these artists inspire you to carry your own ideas forward into your own unique new territory:

Click on each link or image to view more of their work–Enjoy!

Gorgeous Flower Mandalas by Kathy Klein

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Collage Artist Matt Gonzalez is also a civil rights attorney–not your typical arty guy!

Stunning close-up photographs of seeds by Svjetlana Tepavcevic:

Jodi Harvey-Brown creates wonderful, whimsical pop-up-esque sculptures out of books:

Typically, I don’t start writing my blog posts or newsletters until I’ve got a clear idea of what I want to say. I ruminate for a few days before I write, and then, when I finally hit on my “hook,” I get started–and not before then.

Perhaps that sounds simple or obvious, but it’s the way I write my newsletters–therefore, it’s my newsletter writing process.

I’ve only started to notice my newsletter writing process because lately, I haven’t been able to use it, and that’s made it challenging for me to write anything at all.

In fact, in the last month or so, I’ve actually missed a week or two, which is highly unusual for me. (Okay, I was sick too, but still.)

And because I can’t change the nature of my schedule (at least for now), I’d like to find a way to adapt my writing process to my situation.

And this got me thinking about you.

If you’re trying to make room for your creative dreams and are having a hard time of it, maybe it’s because it doesn’t feel like you can “do your thing” the way you normally do it, or the way you used to do it, or the way you’d prefer doing it.

Maybe you like to work undisturbed for hours, but you can’t carve out a big block of time in your current busy schedule. And if you can’t do it that way, you think, “Why even start?”

Or maybe you feel like you need lots of privacy to create, but your home and your family aren’t designed that way and you feel too exposed to dig in.

This is challenging. And the funny thing is, this kind of block/thought can live underneath your own radar–it can be holding you back without your consciously realizing it.

Which can make it hard to fix.

However, once you are aware of it, then things can shift.

(Less Than) Ideal Conditions

The thing is, it’s a two step process:

• you have to realize what you’re thinking/believing AND
• you have to be willing to let it go.

This second part can be hard. Because maybe you’re pissed about not being able to follow your natural process. You WANT 4 or 5 hours in one solid block dammit.

Or you WANT to be able to work on something for longer than 5 minutes without 10 people hunting you down because they’re hungry or because they can’t find something they need right this second as they look down at your work and carelessly say, “What’s that?”

You want that. Is that so wrong?

No, it’s not.

And yet, it’s also getting in the way because the stars are not aligning to make your that happen.

So if this is you–if you realize that you aren’t creating because conditions are not ideal, then you’re probably going to have to let that attachment go in order to start creating. To be the artist you are.

Sigh.

But you can take your time about it. Feel free to be huffy, grumpy and out of sorts for a while.

And while you’re huffy, just consider letting it go. And when the huff dies down a little, maybe express it in words–privately in your diary, or out loud over coffee with your best friend, or to the guilty parties directly–”can you guys PLEASE give me some time to myself?”

And as you let yourself both be upset and consider the possibility of other options, your resistance will start to shift. A solution may pop up out of nowhere–maybe it suddenly feels okay to ask your loving family not to look at what you’re working on because it makes you self-conscious, or you feel more willing to try using the 20 Minute Technique and set yourself a lower bar for what you might accomplish in one sitting.

Now that I’ve figured out what’s impeding my writing, I’m asking myself, “How can I adapt so I can get back on track?”

What other way can I write my newsletters when I seem to have no space in my brain for another new thought?

How can I transition between disparate tasks in ways that work for me?

Or could I adapt in another way, and change my writing schedule instead?

What do I want for myself and how can I make it happen?

And so I ask you too:

What do you want for yourself and how can you make that happen?

Big Hugs! -Sarah