Fear not Creativity

July 3, 2007

tut_fabric3.jpg

Christine commented on my last post, “I am currently avoiding creativity for fear of failure,” and I felt I had to respond. I believe creativity is like the old saying, One percent inspiration and Ninty-Nine percent perspiration. And I can say this with authority because I’ve been doing a lot of perspiring in the studio today, wrestling with bundles of fabrics and hot irons :)

Now this may not be comforting, but there’s hundreds or thousands of good ideas out there. A dozen hit my driveway every morning in the newspaper. I have a bunch of ideas with my morning cereal, then drive over a bunch more when I’m trying to back out of the driveway without running over my neighbor’s flowerbeds. Some of these ideas are re-occurring of course, and the ones that really pester me, I might actually start working on.

tut_fabric1.jpg But that’s the key. Because they’re really nothing unless I work on them. Creativity is struggling with some half-cocked idea and trying to make something out of it. My history (as probably most people’s) is strewn with half-realized ideas, things I sort-of worked on, but abandoned somewhere at some unsuccessful and ugly stage of development.

tut_fabric2.jpg So here’s some ugly in-process photos for you — I like to throw fabric on the floor when I’m trying to figure out a color palette. It’s fast, it gets messy, and I get frustrated because each time I add a new fabric to the mix, it seems to throw off everything else.

It’s hard to remember that the shapes and proportions are only rough estimates. Then something starts gnawing at my stomach — I think it’s called indecision and doubt. So then I think, maybe it’s time to quit fooling around, pick something and go with it. Or stop and have a snack. Or both.

But back to Christine’s comment. I don’t think you can fail at creativity because it’s a process. The only way to really fail is not to try. But I know her and that she is hard-working, intelligent, and has an eye for the beautiful and unique. So I’m not worried, as she said in her comment, this is just a phase, and she is probably about ready to jump back into the creativity thing.

Filed Under process 


Comments

17 Comments so far

  1. Emmie on July 3, 2007 7:48 pm

    Right on, dear Friend. You said it all.

  2. joanne S on July 3, 2007 8:59 pm

    Too funny. Too much like what I do!!!

    I love dropping fabric on the floor and seeing what happens to the colors. Right now I’m loving orange and hot pink together. Trying to think of a subject that would look good in those colors with some golden yellow and green. Run over anything lately that would work????

  3. joanne S on July 3, 2007 9:00 pm

    Hey, the dots on the sidebar are orange and the background is hot pink–at least on my monitor it is. I like it.

  4. Tonya R on July 4, 2007 12:32 am

    excellent post. I love seeing the in-process pics. thanks.

  5. Emmie on July 4, 2007 10:48 am

    Me again. Just ran across a quote that seems appropriate to Christine’s dilemma.

    “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
    Scott Adams

  6. PaMdora on July 4, 2007 11:10 am

    So true Emmie, I love this quote!

  7. Gerrie on July 4, 2007 11:14 am

    You are so right. I have just come out of a dearth of new ideas and am now flooded with them. thanks for the reminder!

  8. Susie Monday on July 4, 2007 9:02 pm

    Amen sister. Now those thrown scraps look a lot like the houses in Burano, short of the striped curtains. Ideas are everywhere and if I get out of the way and just do the work, I find a lot of questions about “quality,” and most of my fears about doing something “good” or “bad” will just slip quietly off into the bushes. I like the Julia Cameron quote about taking care of quantity and letting God (however you want to define Her) take care of the rest.

  9. Sherrie on July 5, 2007 9:02 am

    Good food for thought.

    Creativity is a vulnerable process. When someone creates something it gives evidence of soul matter.

    One can only fail if one does not reach a set of established parameters. Like pass or fail, you know? So to enjoy your creative process, remove the parameters established by yourself or others. Or adjust them. Sometimes a pass or fail mentality, or as Susie Monday said, value labels of “good” and “bad,” simply create carbon copies, and make something that is actually nice in it’s own right, look failure when held against a set standard. So the moral is…be free with your bad self. ;)

    The colors above remind me of a beach scene. Ah, the beach…

  10. PaMdora on July 5, 2007 10:05 am

    Good food for thought, ha ha! You guys are realy rolling with this topic — great!

  11. myra on July 5, 2007 2:42 pm

    Oh yes! I especially love that 99% saying.

    Sometimes I feel like I need to block out 99% of the half baked ideas in my head so I can focus on getting that 1% come to life. That I believe, is my biggest problem!

  12. merrilee on July 6, 2007 9:18 pm

    Thanks to you all for your comments on this most important topic. I’ve spent the winter and spring with nothing but a vacuum inside my head, and have used that excuse not to do any work! Vacation is OVER! Get in thy studio and make something!

  13. PaMdora on July 6, 2007 11:30 pm

    Hi Merrilee, your comment has certainly inspired me! I’m not sure what a vacuum inside your head would look like, but I’d love to try to draw it! xoxoxox

  14. Kathie on July 7, 2007 6:27 am

    Creativity can be scary and fragile. I had a terrible experience a few years ago joining an art quilt group with a single nasty and unwelcoming member. I was totally paralyzed for months–that person’s comments just rang in my head. Or maybe my skin is just too thin.

    I eventually was able to clear all that out of my head but still hear the echoes occasionally.

    Thanks for your words on the topic. Very empowering.

  15. PaMdora on July 7, 2007 9:34 pm

    Kathie, I’m so sorry to hear of your bad experience. Artists are sensitive and you can’t fault yourself for that. Shame on the person who made nasty comments, and I’m glad you’re over it now. I hope you go onto to prove that person totally wrong — that’s the best response, don’t you think?

  16. Janis on July 14, 2007 7:14 pm

    Hi PaMdora! - Loved this post, forwarded to me by Kay D. Your work is amazing - it is exciting to see what you’re doing these days. I think of you often and would love to catch up one day… x o -
    Jan

  17. Jane LaFazio on August 2, 2007 1:07 pm

    I’ve gotta add my two cents worth, well okay, Matisse’s euros worth:

    “Don’t wait for inspiration, it comes while working.” Henri Matisse

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