Unstuck is so much better than being stuck. Thank you Tobin, Laurie Sue, Robert, Ryan and Sam for answering yesterday’s Sprout Question: Has there ever been a time when you were stuck and finding it difficult to finished a creative piece? What did you do?
Here are the results of yesterday’s work where I tried a number of the suggestions offered in the comments on the previous post “Stuck.”
But here is how it will be cropped when framed.
View image in full resolution here.
Yes, I think this is my last edit to take out all that isn’t adding value to the final image. It is the photographer in my that likes to trim.
Arbutus driftwood and Sandstone may never be in the category of “one of my very best paintings” but I have a huge sense of satisfaction in having it “done!” Besides, I have long ago stopped deciding what is best or worst in my work because I have seen people overlook my favourites and purchase something that I was reluctant to keep (my mother has saved a few pieces from my compost pile that I am now glad she did).
Best of all, I can now move on to other work – like using my new water miscible oil paints. I haven’t painted with oils for 30 years. I am so excited to get started – after laundry and other chores of course… or maybe painting first then chores. How does that sound? Like celebrating right? Shall we?
Sprout Question: How do you celebrate when you have a creative break through?
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Sprout Question: “How do you celebrate when you have a creative break through?”
I talk about it on my blog. I “tweet” it on Twitter. And I treat myself to unhealthy quantities of red licorice!
[I like your finished creation, Terrill. And I, for one, vote that you treat yourself to your new oils BEFORE you tend to chores] …
Oh my another red licorice fan. I always cringe as I think of the red food dye… and then I eat it anyway:) Thanks Laurie – great answer from the woman who dares to ask the tough questions.
Thanks for the feedback about the painting. I like it now with the final cropping edit – and I managed to get today’s photograph almost exact to the original image (never an easy task because of how the paint pigment is absorbed into the paper).
I do a little dance. Or maybe a long dance to a funkadelic song all the way through.
Thanks Jessica for answering today’s Sprout Question… I can imagine you doing that. Such a joy that little or big burst of energy when we find we are on the side of whatever it was.
To celebrate a victory i usually smile inside for a long while. Pet my dog. talk to my birds. be at peace. (all things i attempt at doing even while not feeling very victorious!)
mostly, i let myself pause a little longer and feel that all is right with my world.
Tobin I feel like that when I go for a long walk with the soft dirt under my feet and the wind in my hair. That feeling of celebrating the world is alright – that “smile inside for a long while.” Thanks Tobin for sprouting another sprout here on Creative Potager.
Really good food with or without friends that is how i celebrate most things.
We’ve had this conversation some place before Jerry – can’t remember where:) Food is such a great way to celebrate. This time I had fresh lemon and rosemary chicken with jasmine rice and a lovely Argentine bottle of white wine and a light salad. I had made the chicken the night before so it all came together easily. Thanks Jerry for your contribution to the Sprout Question.
I try to just take a moment of quiet and relish in the success–knowing that there is always much more work to be done.
That is so true slamdunk. Your comment reminds me of something I wrote a while ago about celebrating and the liminal state for women leaders. It is short so I will share it again here.
The art of celebrating can be described as the art of successful transition.
In anthropology, the liminal state is where the core experiences of transition take place. It is the state of being neither here nor there.
Celebrating is a way of easing the transition when we are neither here nor there.
In our lives, liminality is often a right of passage which may be accompanied by ritual observances.
Your Business is in a liminal state between the time when you announce that you are moving locations and the doors are open at the new site.
Your career is in a liminal state when you have received and accepted an offer for a new position but have yet to be shown to your new office.
An organization is in a liminal state when a structural change has been approved but has yet to be implemented.
Nurturing and refining our persistent efforts to reach our vision requires the ability to celebrate significant points of transition.
Celebrate large and small milestones as you move along your vision path.
Now I am going to add: creativity is in a liminal state between the time an article is completed and before it goes to the editor; when a painting is drying and you have yet to start another; when the exhibit is completed and packed but you still need to take it to the gallery and; when the photo shoot is a success but you still need to do the editing.
As an artist, celebrating completion is an extremely important practice because more than any other activities I do there is heightened awareness that we are continuing on a journey of learning.