If You Want to Walk on Water, You Have to Get Out of the Boat

No, this isn't a religious blog...its a brand new year blog designed to help you with your heart's desires!

It is a wonderful statement that is food for thought, and a great analogy for taking responsibility for miracles in your own life.

It all comes down to what we want out of life and how to make it happen. Life really is what you make it, and waiting for that most wanted thing to come in to your life just isn't enough. We have to make a contract with ourselves to go out there and get it!

Lets use an example:
You are a very talented ceramicist and your spare room is full of your creations. You really want to show them off to the world, and maybe even sell them. Or at least you'd be happy with them being so admired so much you'd get commissioned to make one just like it for someone if you can't bear to part with that particular one(funny how the human mind works!). You and I both know that allowing the pieces to sit there doesn't get your work known or appreciated by a wider audience. Are you waiting for someone to discover you? Are you thinking that you just need the right opportunity to come along and change everything?
You could be waiting a long time...
To rely on someone or something in this way is just putting your skills in the closet and hoping someone may open the door one day and find out that you are an amazing artist and they will promote you.

The analogy, "If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat", implies taking responsibility for your own destiny, risks and all.

Whats the worst that could happen? Someone says they don't like your work? Well I don't like liver and bacon, but a chef doesn't take offence - he knows we all have different tastes. You may think people will laugh at you and your work. That's every artist's fear - of being judged and laughed at - that someone will say, "Don't give up your day job!" The truth is that the negative voice in your head will try to convince you of these things. What is actually the case is that art is art and a personal creative journey. Talents are meant to be shared and we all share a purpose in life - to build bridges, architectural ones or ones that bridge gaps between people through audio and visual communication.

So in order to "Walk on Water", that personal miracle, we have to take that brave step outside of our comfort zone and see what we can do! Keeping your focus on your goal will prevent you from sinking and you'll be surprised how much you can achieve!

Write a New Year Plan today. Start with your desire and use the following SMART technique to get you on your way:
S - Specific - set a small goal first
M - Measurable - make a plan and evaluate regularly
A - Attainable - break it down in to manageable steps
R - Realistic - keep it simple and achievable
T - Time Frame - set a sensible time limit for each step

For example:
Goal - to have an exhibition.
First Step - to let people know you exist!

Specific - Make contact with other artists and let friends and family know what you are doing
Measurable - make a plan on how(through local clubs/having a party/making business cards/website)
Attainable - gather information by researching on Internet and local publications
Realistic - Dedicate 2 mornings a week
Time Frame - 4 weeks from now you'll know a few more people and will have made some headway on how to get promoting yourself

Don't forget to keep your journal up to date so you can document your progress. Its great to look back and see your achievements.

I hope this food for thought gives you a boost for the start of this new year!
Best Wishes for a Creative 2009.

Trees of Winter © Deborah Eileen Burrow 2008

Setting the Inner Creative Child Free

Inside all of us is a creative child. Its that child we remember who dabbled in the sand and rock pools on the beach, drew crayons marks on the walls, pressed flowers and leaves, built hideouts in the woods and generally explored and experimented.

Over time that child gets a bit quashed and re-shaped into adulthood. If we are lucky we may go to college or university and re-learn, re-discover and encourage the creative child to create new things within a structured and well researched course. Hopefully the child remains part of our move into the professional world of creating and making a living from it, or just keeping the creativity as a hobby and finding a lot of pleasure in it.

Some of us will identify with the above. Others will identify with a different scenario – that of being someone who has lived a life without creativity since they were young. They may feel either that they have had no opportunity to express their creativity, or they feel that they are not creative at all.

Here is the truth – we are ALL creative in one way or another. Whether we express this through cooking, baking, home making, decorating, gardening, building, landscaping, sewing, writing letters, organising an office, the list goes on. The fact is that everyday living is creative – we have to use that part of our brain to function on a daily basis.

Here comes the fun part! I would like to invite you to do something different today, tomorrow and for the rest of your life. What is it that burns a hole in you? Is it writing, painting, dress making, interior design, pottery, drawing, photography…? Something will be desperate to be expressed. To start your personal creativity desire journey, indulge yourself in fifteen minutes a day of something you love. Don’t set yourself restrictions, just let that inner creative child free and express your heart out. Even dancing is creative!!

Even we seasoned artists can benefit from this freeing up of ourselves. When I started the journey I allowed myself to play with clay – it was liberating and really inspiring. I set aside all my long-held beliefs in not being able to do something, and the fear of being laughed or sneered at. It changed my life, and even though I didn’t carry on with ceramics, it had an impact on my painting. Through lots of self-indulging I found my true self and now I am proud to be who I am. Now I constantly remind people that creativity is a part of everyone’s life, not just mine.

Celebrate one of your deepest instinctual drives and please help others to do the same. You may be the one key to enriching another’s life by reminding them who they are.

Above painting, "Furrows" © 2008 Deborah Eileen Burrow

Encouragement from Professional Artists

I read the following words just when I needed the encouragement to continue with my efforts. Today I’ve decided to share them with you - I hope they bring you the same comfort and sustenance. Enjoy!

• “Create a supportive group for yourself.” – Christina Acosta
• “Maintain a daily connection with your ideas and your personal mark-making. You can achieve this with just one thirty-second drawing a day.” – Jen Bradley
• “Trust your instincts and find your own way. Learn from artists you admire personally and professionally. Don’t be too hard on yourself as you discover who you are and how to best express it.” – Cynthia Britain
• “. It’s never too late to be what you should have always been.” – Robert Burridge
• “If you’re painting your emotions, it’s your visual self.” – Bonnie Casey
• Collect samples of everything you like, things that move you. Take them home and analyse what it is that moves you…look for the ‘Aha!’ Then do it your own way.” – Cheri Christensen
• “You need a dedicated space where you paint, even it it’s a corner of the living room. When you put things away, you put your art life away. Make a space for your art.” – Connie Connally
• “Take classes from people who are technically gifted. Get a profound grasp of the technical side.” – Brian Davis
• “Talent is helpful, but it is the constant working that moves and artist to a new level. Also, don’t fight your true self.” – Rhonda Egan
• “The most important thing is not to worry about selling your art. Just play. Play with all the materials. So much of what makes a painting beautiful are the accidents.” – Anne Embree
• “I am interested in painting the sublime, that aesthetic experience of being overwhelmed and filled with awe at something so majestic that it evokes a sense of the eternal.” – Nicora Gangi
• “Just stick with whatever looks and feels right to you. Try lots of things and see what might fit you best.” – Vince Gasparich
• “I stress the value of simplicity. That one clear response, the message behind the painting, should sing out loud and strong. Select the essence of what you are painting and leave out all extraneous detail.” – Jean Grastorf
• “I believe that every artist has his or her own vision of the world; our job as artists is to find and express that vision. The most important thing is to keep exploring, yourself and your materials.” – Carole Katchen
• “Time to paint isn’t something you find, it is something you need to make.” – Linda Kemp
• “Accepting yourself is where you find your fufillment.” – Liz Kenyon
• “The best tool for good composition is one’s instinct. Painters must be loose and nurture confidence in themselves.” – Madeline Lemire
• “Remember that you are not painting a picture, you are creating a painting.” – Peggy McGivern
• “You paint your heartbeat. You have to follow what you respond to, not what you think someone else expects from you.” – Joan McKasson
• “Paint often and joyfully.” – Helaine Mclain
• “Don’t worry about being influenced by others, because it is natural. But you need to make it your own so you can go on.” – Carla O’Connor
• “Keep a book of clippings of paintings you really like, such as unusual compositions and good designs.” – Camille Przewodek
• “Try to stay out of your own way. The biggest Challenge is this.” – Barbara Rainforth
• “Your nature should dictate how you paint. You may love a painting and a painter, but it might not be you. Everyone has a certain greatness; your greatness is your uniqueness developed. So you have to discover you uniqueness.” – Susan Sarbeck
• “Work hard and get the basics.” – Marilyn Simandle
• “At times, put yourself in uncomfortable situations with your artwork. Enrich your life with experiences.” – Shawn Snow
• “You have to make yourself uneasy at times to make a painting successful.” – Leslie Toms
• “Learn to love nature and love life. If you appreciate life and nature, your paintings with show this.” – Lian Zhen

Words of encouragement indeed!
Keep Creative and Happy,
Debs

Above painting, "Wheatfield View" © 2008 Deborah Eileen Burrow