A while back I told you about partnering with a friend (who happens to be a photographer) on building idea fluency through conceptual challenges. The idea of choosing a partner to increase accountability appealed to both of us. We decided to choose a phrase or word every few weeks and then each work on creating an image that expressed our feelings about that phrase or word.
The first word we chose was 2020. It’s a year like no other year I’ve lived through. The image at the top of this post is my unexpected answer to the word 2020. It was not what I planned to create. And creating it was somewhat accidental. I’ll tell you the story as this blog post unfolds.
It was a strong reminder that we need to
Show Up and Do the Work
“The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.”
― The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles
You can see my initial plan for what I would create in response to the 2020 prompt in my blog post titled Creative Practice. After creating a mind map and then settling on the idea of using a mirror to reflect back some of the events of the year I began to work on the image.
I used numerous photographs, one of my watercolor paintings and the mirror frame. But I wasn’t happy with the result. It was far too literal and not graceful or beautiful in the way I wanted it to be. I tried removing the mirror frame.
It was maybe a little better but still nothing to write home about. Ideas continued to swirl in my mind on what I could create, especially during my meditation time (not what I wanted but what happened). Though I was not happy with what I had created I decided to let it go. I had tried and done my best. Perhaps taking a break from the project would bring new ideas.
Take a break and do something else
I worked on a watercolor painting based upon a photograph I had made in 2018. Though I wasn’t particularly happy with the painting I decided to combine a photograph of the painting with the original photograph that had inspired the painting to see what happened.
Here is the original photograph that inspired the painting (several layers with varying transparency of amaryllis flowers).
And here is my painting of the amaryllis flowers.
I began with a photograph of the painting as the background layer, then layered on the original photograph and added other texture layers. And I also played with different blending modes in Photoshop. It wasn’t until I added a texture layer that looked like cracked paint and began experimenting with different blend modes that it hit me. This image was beginning to express my deep feelings about 2020.
“This is the other secret that real artists know and wannabe writers don’t. When we sit down each day and do our work, power concentrates around us. The Muse takes note of our dedication. She approves. We have earned favor in her sight. When we sit down and work, we become like a magnetized rod that attracts iron filings. Ideas come. Insights accrete.”
― The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles
You could say it was accidental. But if I had not begun to work on it and continued to play and experiment I would not have created the image at the top of this post. I think that when we give our minds a problem to solve (creating an image that represents how I feel about 2020) and put sufficient effort into it, that at some point the subconscious mind begins to work on the problem.
Let your subconscious mind work on it
What seems to work best for me is to work hard on the project, thinking, imagining, and trying things and then to let go of it for awhile and continue my other creative interests. Often, something will emerge that’s better than anything I initially imagined. And it seems accidental. But it would not happen if I did not put in enough initial effort to show my subconscious mind that I care about it.
“Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.”
― The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles
Today I am going to print this image using my largest photo paper and I’m going to play some more with it, perhaps adding gold to some of the cracks. I love that this image uses my beloved flower photographs to express something that is larger than words. And that the bottom layer of this image is a watercolor painting that I made, imperfections and all.
It takes a lot of energy to do this type of creative work. In fact I was surprised by how actively my mind worked on this project until I made the conscious decision to let it go for awhile. Now I plan to relax and take a break before taking on another conceptual challenge. I need a balance of challenge and rest to stay motivated and excited about creating.
What will you create today? Maybe it’s time for you to show up and do the work?
May you walk in beauty.
0 Comments