The Need to Make – As an Artist

This post is solely inspired by something Tony wrote.

I possess this same “need to make” that he writes about.

The artsy world I live in online delivers buckets of inspiration my way to the point where it paralyzes me. Have you ever felt that way?

I am finding to be a “maker” you really have to limit the amount of inspiration you let in. Otherwise there is much excitement, much energy and nothing to show for it. AND, you start to think you’re making has to be something perfect, because you see a bunch of “perfect making” posted on other peoples’ blogs. Rarely do you see the time and effort and the mistakes that went into their making.

So when we actually sit down to do our making we have overload and perfection working against us. And in my case, fatigue is working against me too, since my chance to make is often once our kids are in bed.

My daughter drew on her ballerina leotard and a dining room chair recently. As I was asking Tony’s advice on dealing with this, he said, “It’s okay to give her limitations in her creativity.” (In this case, limiting her drawing to paper.) “It doesn’t mean you’re stifling her creativity. Often times creativity blossoms when it’s given restrictions.” Maybe he didn’t use the word “blossoms” but you get the picture.

So how does this relate to “the need to make?”

I think it’s better to place limitations on the gathering of ideas, in order to spur on the actual doing.

Some ways to limit yourself as an artist so you can fulfill your “need to make”:

• Limit the inspiration you let in. Read one book and then apply what you’ve learned before you read another. Follow only the best of the best inspirational blogs,Flickrs, twitters, etc. and limit your time reading them. Cut up one magazine and don’t buy another until you’ve done something with that inspiration.

• Limit the window of time you will use to “make.” This feels horribly stifling at first, but as a homeschooling mom, I can’t avoid it. If I’m going to do my mom role well, my “making” role will need to be put off for a certain window of time. (This does note mean you can’t be creative in all roles of your life, but I’m referring here to completing actual pieces of art.) I can make when my kids are resting or sleeping. Small window. Sometimes I’m too tired to do anything at those times. So it goes some days. BUT, when I know my time is limited, I’m more apt to make that time count for something and actually get something done

• Give yourself incentives. If I can do X amount of making then I can have Y reward. Example: If I can make enough dolls until I find a solid three designs (and get good at that dang hidden stitch) then I can buy some nice wool felt to start experimenting with. Or, if I can write one inspiring blog post a day for a week, then I can read some of the blogs that inspire me and fill me back up creatively

• Limit the amount of time you spend responding to others, so that you can continue making, which is what the world really wants from artists anyway. Read this post for more insight.

• Let go of the fact that you can’t keep up on every artsy conversation in all the circles you are in online. Being an artist is not JUST about who you know and keeping up on what they’re saying. You’ve gotta be making something too. If you’re just yacking or even just listening to others yack, you’re not making.

• Stop being in such a hurry. Art takes time: for ideas to percolate, for dreams to be dreamed, for visions to come together into actionable items and then time for the actual labor of the art itself. We gather so much inspiration it doesn’t even have a chance to soak in. We don’t even read most blog posts that we go to for inspiration. Are you reading this now? Skimming? Yeah, I thought so. We just soak up as much eye candy as fast as we can. The internet, like it or not, makes us in a hurry.

• Limit your expression. Careful how many mediums you try to take on at once. If your wanting to try them all at once, chances are none of them will really manifest. Pick something and stick with it until you feel confident in it. You’ll get a charge from actually finishing something and you’ll have developed skills as an artist. Creativity will then be able to breed creativity in other areas of your life

• Always know where you are in the cycle of a project. Are you in the inspiration gathering cycle, then that’s okay to be online, in a magazine or in a book, or in conversation. Are you in the gathering phase? Then you should be gathering supplies and designating times in your life to start your project. Are you in the making phase? Then make. Just make.

I’m putting a lot of this stuff in place in my life right now. Very slowly, I’m laying down some ground rules so I can actually function as an artist. I would love to hear more advice on this topic:

How do you deal with your “need to make?”