Scare your studio demons with these three tips
By: Emma Sims
I’ll set the scene: You’re all alone on Halloween and the house is quiet and empty. Is today the day? Will you finally have the time and motivation to start that special portrait? You’ve been thinking about this project for a while, and that moment is finally here!
Years of practice spin in your head, battling your intuition, creativity, common sense… A whirlwind of determination comes together as a pit of nerves in your gut as you make the first marks.
Suddenly, you hear something…
“You’re going to do it like THAT?!” hisses the ghoulish legion of art critics past.
A shadow of anxiety descends on the studio, and suddenly you’re fighting your own Halloween monsters: Distraction, Procrastination, and Comparison.
These demons seem to always wriggle their way into the studio. I wonder how we can channel overwhelm into positive energy?
I stewed on this question during the month of October and enjoyed some pertinent articles that helped corroborate my ideas. What follows is a collection of suggestions intended to help us manage anxiety that can overwhelm new projects.
If we want to transform overwhelm into creativity, consider the following: Intention, Motivation, and Cleanliness.
1) Intention is a discipline that helps move our projects along. For example, get in the habit of setting a timer for every 20-30 minutes while working – the consistent breaks will help maintain a steady painting pace. It affords a moment to stretch your muscles, take a drink, and return with a refreshed eye.
In an Epoch Times article about how to stay on course in your self-improvement journey, Mike Donghia wrote, “Daydreaming is a form of procrastination that takes the edge off your frustration without making any demands.” He said, “I have a deep fear of trying to succeed and failing. Until I really try, I can tell myself that I haven’t reached my goals because I haven’t prioritized them.”
Procrastination does a great job keeping us from being productive and intentional with our precious working moments. It’s easy to daydream while we paint – the meditative practice lets our minds get creative and it's oh-so satisfying. However, daydreaming and avoiding our intentions invites fear.
If we create a routine with a timer, we can keep our work on track and intentional, leaving no space for negative energy. Timers will also force us to reevaluate our work frequently, which is a helpful way to avoid a feedback loop.
“Re-evaluating a plan after a set period of time, ideally with input from a close friend, is a smarter way to stay or correct the course,” he said. The feeling of overwhelm can easily weasel into our practice while we are painting, so frequent breaks give us time to fight off fatigue and re-check our progress.
2) Trouble getting motivated before a project is no secret dilemma among artists. Sometimes it’s hard to get psyched up for a painting, especially when the fear of failure is lurking. It’s a powerful feeling, and one that terrifies us in our working times.
“The feeling of overwhelm is based on the fear that we can’t handle everything coming our way, that we’ll fail at juggling all the balls— and drop them,” said Leo Babauta in an Epoch Times article, “Transform Overwhelm Into Creative, Productive Energy.”
Babauta refers to energies as “our creations,” stating we should “learn to master them.” He believes “Overwhelm isn’t something that controls us, but rather a springboard from which we can transform our lives. Like any other energy, it can be the clay for building our creative actions.”
As we learn to master our materials and skills, so should we learn to master our energies so we can turn fear into creative motivation, which connects to our last pillar of painting progress:
3) The art of cleanliness.
A clean working space means two things to me: an organized studio and an open mind. Calm surroundings invite a calm, focused mindset and freedom to create. When one or the other is in disarray, there’s a slim chance I'll ever be satisfied with my work. My studio partner, Ann Manry Kenyon, is the same way: “When I clean up my studio, I can be concentrated on the painting, instead of all the rubbish around.”
For us, tending to our studio and tidying up before we dive into a painting is a sacred part of the creation process. Once the boundary of beginning finally breaks, it's more efficient and free-flowing to paint in surroundings that are set up to serve our intentions.
The common adage, “cleanliness is close to Godliness,” is eerily applicable to this metaphor. If the devil is in the details, and if our details are amok, the studio just got a lot more spooky.
A clean studio makes room in our minds for new creations. It puts us in charge and takes power away from the studio demons of Procrastination and Distraction.
For an open and positive mental state, we must put Comparison in the corner, especially while we feel overwhelmed.
Nothing can suffocate the courage to create like comparing ourselves to others. We have a duty to ‘water what waters us,’ and even our most idolized artist can’t do that. All the skill and knowledge we’ve collected over the years should serve to inspire us to create something of our very own, regardless of anyone else’s life.
“Envy can be a powerful motivator, but it burns out quickly and tends to be a hard habit to break,” Donghia says. Negative energy is the best trick-or-treat for studio goblins– don’t feed them!
We should be mindful not to use valuable teachings against ourselves. Teetering the tight line between constructive and destructive critique is a constant mental battle for the artist who seeks to grow. We learn so much from so many perspectives, it’s important to take what we like and leave what we don’t. Speaking of learning, read Marianne Rice’s “Tips for a Great Workshop” here.
Critique yourself as you would speak to someone you love. Let Envy and Comparison have no seat in your sacred studio space.
To end this article, I want to share an inspiring quote from Harley Brown’s October article, “Be Yourself,” in International Artist Magazine’s October/November issue:
“This art studio is Earth’s heaven. Angst disappears as an angel touches my shoulder. I feel ready to allow my talents full reign with creating—A natural flow from your insightful mind and through to your fingertips. We artists become more ourselves through our creations. It’s a profound and steady journey, which thankfully has no end."
He says creating art is the ultimate remedy for the angst and overwhelm in our spirits. May we all conquer our overwhelm and transform it into creative success, on Halloween and in every season.
