Category Archives: showing up

art, commitment, creator, excuses, showing up

How to be more productive

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How to be more productive in a society that asks so much of us every day is a challenge. After nine-to-five it’s hard to get motivated when all your energy is gone, BUT if you take the step to do something you love, you’ll find that you perk right up. It beats sitting on the couch eating popcorn.

The first step

Identify what you can do NOW to move your dreams forward. I’m coming from an artist’s point of view, but all areas of life can use the same approach. As an artist, I have so many art supplies that I have collected over the years, so I have no excuses.

Making art is a journey. There is a beginning but no end. The journey is traveling through many facets of creativity, and when one style doesn’t support your enthusiasm it’s important to trust the progress forward.

The second step

Can you commit to something you love to do? When you sign up for an exercise program you commit to following through, but how many do? It gets boring but you gain stamina and mobility. So, what change can you make to be more excited about it? Try a different style? It takes creativity to get out of a rut. Commitment is invaluable! Follow through until it gets to be second nature. That is probably the most valuable lesson I have had in my years as an artist.

I have made many clay figures in the past, and the above picture is a new variant of the same theme. I wanted to make a toadstool hat, which I knew would be a challenge. This is how I did it (lots of gnashing of teeth.): I took a Styrofoam ball and cut the top off. I already had the sculpture’s head done. I carved out the foam to fit the head. That was the easy part. Then I needed pleated fabric on the underside. I used A LOT of glue to press down every fold of white muslin. (You should’ve seen my gluey hands!) I made sure the folds were attached well, and then I went back to press them down as the glue was drying. Then I trimmed the excess of fabric at the edge, and there it was. I felt a great sense of accomplishment. I painted the red area first so that I wouldn’t get paint on the white pleats, and I added the clay hair afterward.

Step three: Keep experimenting!

You don’t learn what works unless you experiment with the materials. Many times a material won’t work, but you get a better idea of what will.

Set small goals

Climbing Mt. Everest takes MANY small steps. Say you can commit to half an hour of art-ing every day, plan ahead. If you’re a visual artist, bring a sketchbook in your purse and some pens and pencils. If you paint abstracts, make a wild background on a blank canvas. If you work with clay, make an armature for the sculpture you want to create. One small step will get you going.

How to be more productive happens in small steps!

The Universe helps those who help themselves. Brilliant ideas come from nowhere, and you can be the vessel for those ideas.

Show up, and magic will start happening 🙂

It’s true.

If you have no clue what excites you, think of what you liked in school, or what you were good at. Talent often shows itself early, a suggestion of a future to come. Doing what you love makes you HAPPY! If clueless, try different things; the smallest effort will eventually show you the path.

Lots of love,

Maria

My etsy shop EarthandFaery is filled with magic!

art, artist, commitment, judgment, motivational, showing up, visibility

Artist struggles

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Artist struggles can be hard to overcome, especially if the road seems pitted with pot holes and many disappointments, not to mention loads of failed art work. I will get to that.

There is the issue of artistic expression, and the issue of selling your art. In a way, they go hand in hand even if they are two different arms of the biz of being an artist.

brushes

Artist expression, how to negotiate the pitfalls:

The biggest thing for expression is COMMITMENT.  As with any other work you have to be committed to get results. How do you build commitment if you don’t have it?

You have to build a new habit by showing up every day at your art, come hell or high water! There is no way around this. Even when you feel no inspiration at all, you show up and put brush to paint or whatever medium you’re using. Prepare you tools and inspiration might start to flow. If it doesn’t, paint anyway. It might look like crap, which is often does, but so what? You can always paint over it later. The sooner we realize how important commitment is, the sooner we will see progress in our art endeavors. Make loads of ugly paintings and be proud of them!

COMPARISON: Don’t compare your work to that of other artists. You are unique.  Why would you want your work to look like someone else’s?  To find your own style, you have to produce a lot of art, trial and error style, until you feel the unmistakable vibe of YOU in your art. It can take some time, but you are committed.

Guitarists did not become great overnight… Practice can be tedious, but the progress is noticeable.

It’s hard to explain what the vibe of YOU is, but you will know. It feels right, it feels magical, it feels like “yes.”

Then again, you might lose that feeling as you continue to grow and advance in your art. Then you lean on your commitment until the next breakthrough.

JUDGMENT: It can be the death of creativity. If you judge your own art as you move through your process, you are likely to quit making art. Judgment of others can be hard to take, but why take their word for it? They come from their single point of view, and maybe they are envious of your courage to be an artist. It takes courage to let the world see your art. Who cares what others think, right? Thick skin, remember?

Those are the three biggies.

business

Two pitfalls in art biz:

VISIBILITY: Unless you’re a performer it can be hard to make yourself visible online and offline. Many artists are introverts and find it difficult to allow the vulnerability of self AND personal art into the world.

The only way to overcome this is to SHOW UP and grow some thick skin. People will always be quick to criticize, but if you did your best and you love your art, you don’t have to buy into the criticism. There can be helpful criticism, but you can feel the difference. Don’t buy into the b*llshit. Remember your passion for your art and your commitment.

It’s easier to be visible online since there is a barrier between you and the public, but you will encounter trolls there too. Trust in yourself. You are enough, and your art is enough. It’s a journey, and you keep on going.

Blogging and having an online shop are two ways to be visible online. What is most important to you? To have gallery representation or online sales? You can have both. I find ways to show my art, usually in shops, and coffee shops. So far, I have not been in more than a couple of gallery shows, but I’d rather sell online. That has been my choice.

Make several streams of income available.

CREATIVE THINKING: Art-ing is not the only way to be creative. To make opportunity for yourself, you have to get your art out there. Think of ways you enjoy to make your art available. You don’t have to be represented by a gallery to have good sales, or travel to art shows.

I mix it up with some crafts and I also make e-courses. Find several ways to bring in income from your art. Build a mailing list.

Some of these things are pretty boring, but have you ever done work that was all fun and play? Commitment involves doing the boring stuff that is needed for your art to be visible.

There are so many ways to sell your art online: Prints, art on totes and mugs, commissions, online shops, a website with all the links to your goodies. Get inspired by what other artists have done to sell their art. If they can, you can!

When I started out I used to sell art on eBay, and I look at my art from my early days and wonder how it ever sold!  Some did though, so there are people who will always see the beauty in your art even if it’s amateurish (compared to where you are now.)

Today is the day. Make that commitment and go for it!!

xo

Maria

P.S. I have lots of new things in ONE of my etsy shops: https://etsy.com/shop/EarthandFaery