Getting “The Guts” & Getting Accountability

I wrote a post at then end of June and ended it by saying I wish I had the guts to get some canvases and start painting on them. Well I did it. But a few things happened to get me over that mental hurdle. Let me elaborate.

First off, I got Starbucks with my friend Abbi.

The coffee-date was followed up by a couple emails thrown back and forth by the two of us, brainstorming about art and dreams and the guts to see it through.

The emails were followed by a plan to have artistic accountability…this included sharing three goals for the next two weeks. One of my goals was to paint…on a canvas.

*A side note – My problem with canvases is that they are important (you better create a masterpiece on them), expensive (well compared to paper anyway) and ummmm blank.

My artist accountability partner went a step further than just checking in on me. She literally bought the canvases and dropped them off at my doorstep. You know I’m going to HAVE to paint on them if someone else spent the money for them!

So I made the decision then and there to paint my first canvas for Abbi.

Abbi and I find we’re going through a lot of the same struggles in our head and heart – you know, silencing the inner-critic and believing we have something to contribute artistically to the world. We’re finding the accountability to be just what we need to catapult us over some of our fears. I’ve been more purposely productive and focused in my art work this past week thanks to our accountability, and it’s been so refreshing.

One of Abbi’s artistic loves is baking and decorating cakes and cupcakes. The idea for the painting came out of that. Just like my dream to be a painter starts with this single canvas, her dream to be a cake artist/decorator starts with a single cupcake. We will get there, together, one tiny step at a time. I love the idea of that.

I love it because I know I have the guts to do it just one time.

And when I’m done, like with this first painting, I realize I have the guts to try it just once more. And so the artistic journey is paved, one cupcake or one canvas at a time.