Title: The Drought...
By: Shad Hall
Web: [link]
Date: 8.30.2007
Version: 1

Preface:
This is sort of a follow up article to my other article, TrueArt vs ArtFailure [link] here in the News Section. Reading these two article in order is not necessary.



Is it really possible to meaning and presentation in your art when you are creatively dry?

Yes, but as humans, we tend to be impatient and demand art to happen now. Of course, we know all to well what happens when we try to force art by pushing creation; we kill the piece and not being happy with the results of the project that we were so emotionally involved in and given-to that we crash from a false high. A lot of art out there in the public is rushed, pushed, and forced art and a lot of the time, it's so apparent that even a novice can spot it. I think we can agree that there is a lot of art out there (regardless of quality), so we do not need to hurry up and produce art, time will always be there for us. Keep in mind though that I am not suggesting an artist should slack and be lazy, but if we do not produce art and get it presented in a large well-known gallery this month, the world will not overlook us for the rest of our lives as punishment.

As we artists are looking for meaning, reason and initiative for new and fresh art, from time to time we will likely run dry on creative initiative. What do we do when this happens? First, I think we need to acknowledge the reality of this concept to be true and not fight it. Yes, we all want to be the super-hero, saving the day; getting the girl in the end as we sit on the hood of our '69 Camero watching the sun drop into the horizon, but I think we all watch too much TV. Fairy tales, fables and fantasies are cute when you're a kid, but I think we don't realize how much they are a part of our society and what is expected of us. We were taught that girls are supposed to act a certain way and wait for their knight in shining armor. Well, in the last hundred years, as far as I know, not a lot of us grew up in castles let alone even lived near a farm with horses on it. Do we even know someone who owns a horse? A lot of kids today know what milk is in a cartoon, but have never see a real cow! Wake up and smell the coffee, Dorothy! We're no longer in Kansas. However, there will be times when creative initiative simply isn't there and we must not determine this be artistic failure. Failure is a misconception in the art world if you will perceive and grasp this concept from a certain angle. There are times when a piece of out art falls flat and “let's us down”, but to progress in art means to learn methods that do not work and then to proactive accept the learned bit and go on. Don't be discouraged with your presentation not working out as you saw it in your mind. Art does not fail, but the artist can. The cleaner/degreaser called, WD-40, literally means “Water Displacement - 40th Attempt”. 40 tries before they were to create an end-result that they were happy with, so don't be so difficult on yourself. If you can take every supposed artistic failure and mentally make a note of what “does not” work, then you've beat the odds; you will begin to create a mental emporium of knowledge that will in no doubt cause your art to improve.

Even though human society has gotten away from core-values over the span of the last 200 years, we are still trained by society to meet certain expectations; regardless if they are in the school yard, dating scene or work life among other situations. I think we try to make people happy, even if it is merely for one person. Humans are weak in this aspect; we so need the acceptance of others, but these “others” must matter to us, rather than simply anyone. A lot of relationships are destroyed from the get-go, because there was a misunderstanding and the other person was left heart-broken. We all may grow up, but we're still little kids inside that simply want to be hugged and told that we are loved and cared for and even maybe a, “everything will be alright” if we so dare to dream. So all of this culture background that has been so ingrained into us, we expect our art to be perfect in the end or even from the beginning of the piece. We want someone to come by and see the piece and be awestruck. We want to hear praise of our work that means so much to us. We want recognition. Is that wrong? No. Wanting recognition is human and this aspect as well, should not be fought against. On the other hand, criticism is and can be a form of learning and growing if you're open to it. If you're open to receiving benefiting criticism, then there is one more thing not holding you back from artistic progress.

But the art still sucks, right? There it is sitting on the easel and it looks like crap. What is going on with me!?, you're screaming inside your head I imagine. Throw a cup full of paint on it and see what happens. I once did with an art piece and as soon as I did, I had this fantastic and fresh idea for a piece that I just had to do and I scrapped the other idea. Now, this was very arbitrary method, but it worked for me at that time for that piece, so it was the right approach to finding meaning and initiative. This may or may not work for your piece at the time, but sometimes, when you hit a dead end and you can't look at the “friggin' piece” anymore, do something drastic with it. If you don't like the results, you haven't lost anything, because you'll still hate the piece; however, if you do find a fresh idea and approach, then you've succeeded and your drought is over. [I like how this paragraph of theory summed up all of artists problem and solved the problem in a short few sentences. Hahaha I only could wish.]

So we have the concept of not pressuring our art and the most of us can probably agree with that theory, but what next?

Sometimes walking away from a “canvas” for a while isn't enough as our era of drought goes on day after day after month and maybe even after years. I think that we have to address issues deeper than even finding your “zone” (e.g. outdoors, etc.). There was an artist (can't remember the name; not even sure if he/she was famous) that decided not to sleep (other than catnaps) for an entire year to devote more time to his art, but at the end of the year, he commented on that his art was actually worse and he was less happy artistically and in life. He went on to say that social relationships had more positive affect on his art than he let himself originally believe. There was a particular time in my life (after a family move) that I was really depressed for some months and in this new neighborhood, I had not made any new friends (maybe due to some social anxieties, regardless,) I found the art of poetry and poetry I wrote. Lots of it. Some pieces better than others, but they were all passionate! But they were dark and I didn't want to present my art darkly. I wanted to be happy. So venting my frustrations, prayers and hopes through poetry I thought would help me and in a way, I guess it did to some degree, because it was a personal learning experience in my life that reflected the same thing this other artist learned: lack of social life drains the life out of art. We have to have learning experiences in all areas of life, let's just not sit there and dwell over them any longer than necessary.

Finding tranquility and breathing room in life is healthy, but it's only one aspect of the complex answer to ending artistic drought. Not only are social relationships necessary, but also having fun is important. Keep in mind though, “fun” is more than simply hanging out getting drunk party after party. We need more than just social events that are on surface levels; we need meaningful relationships. Now parties (birthdays, send-off's, welcome-back's, etc) are great and I'm not discouraging them, but in the morning, we need to have people that we can say to others, “hey, they're with me, back down” - in other words, people who matter to you. If you have to drink yourself into a stupor just to be around these supposed-friends, then re-evaluate thse relationship(s). Keep in mind though, family is family and though relationships are destroyed some times, you can never change the fact that they are DNA related. So whether that person(s) is family or friend, find someone you can hang with and stimulates you and visa-versa. The sad fact is that most people never have more than even 1 or 2 people like this in their life time. While having someone to talk to, whether it be your grandpa or your barber since childhood, is good; however, we still need to have fun, laugh, cry and play and trust with another person. Yes, I might make it sound so simple, but I don't mean for it to sound like a fable. Think back to when you were a child, there was at least one thing you liked to do that gave you an escape from life's weight. Maybe it was climbing trees, playing street ball or roller skating; there was was something that you did that always ends up in conversation today referring to the “Good ol'e Days”. This is where you will find creative initiative. You are not too old nor grown up to have fun.

Recently, I was reading Steven King's The Dark Tower series and there was a funny quote in the story that read: (paraphrased) “When he's in the zone, he can talk the devil into setting himself on fire.” It made me laugh.

When I'm in my studio, I usually have music playing and loud if possible. I find music relaxing and stimulative for artistic creativity, but I have to be careful not to fall into being deceived and end up painting a piece that is really just what the song lyrics are about. Stay true and paint your own ideas. I cannot just walk into my studio and look at a blank canvas and start painting. I wait until I have something that I have just “have to” paint. I find a lot of inspiration is looking at a lot of art. There are many art web sites on-line, magazines (including the parent's Home & Garden, Interior Design, etc.) and other people's art displayed on walls in stores that I pay attention to. I try to absorb as much art as possible, because I know down the road I will remember something about a piece and “borrow” it to incorporate it in my style of presentation. Artists are thieves. Now, I'm not meaning plagiarism, but we all do gather ideas from other's work. What was the reason you wanted to be an artist? The very first thought you had that made you think to yourself that you wanted to be an artist? Regardless if you remember it or not, you wanted to because of inspiration. You saw someone else's work and “gathered” from it and then tried your own presentation and voi la, here you are today.