Block and Burnout: How to Rekindle the Creative Fire Part VI

Introduction to Part VI

Here we are, finally at the last part of this enormously long and info-laden six-part series about artist block and burnout, and how to beat them. And that’s just it, the more of these tactics you apply to the problem, the better your chance at reclaiming your creativity! So don’t hold back…whack ‘em with all you’ve got! Because that’s just it — you have to fight for your art. Block and burnout just won’t go away on their own. Those bullies will just keep bugging you unless you give them a reason to leave, and all of these strategies give you an array of options to convince them to go. Because you’re worth it, your art is worth it, and your sense of joy and peace with creativity are worth it, yes? Yep! 

So enough of my yammering, and let’s jump right into this last sixth part to wrap up our discussion on amending tactics while also jumping into some preventative measures to keep block and burnout at bay forever! Off we go!…

The Turnaround Strategies, cont’d

Connect with community: Find your people, find your clan. Connect with like-minded folks and become part of their community. Join online forums, participate in and attend art events, become someone of standing. A vibrant, solid community can offer inspiration, support and even humor, rounding out your creative life. But even more, a supportive artistic community can be a pivot point for developing your own creative resilience to combat blocks and burnout by being the antidote to the isolation and doubts that come with the creative experience. Indeed, a community provides a framework of camaraderie and affirmation, offering up a tremendous support system and resource clearinghouse. Embrace the power of community, and you can make new friends, fruitful networkings, exciting inspirations, and newfound resilience to thrive in your creative journey.

Make a mess: Arting is often messy business, so let it be! In other words, give yourself permission to make a mess out of things to then pull it back into more order. Like don’t your pieces go through a series of ugly stages to become the swan? Yeah, that. So don’t worry so much with each step and just enjoy the process. You’ll find your way through, trust in that. And if you have any questions, there’s always the wisdom of fellow creatives or even the community hivemind to get you out of the weeds.

Bad art: Every artist — yes, every single artist — makes “bad” art. Every artist ever has had “bad art days.” That’s simply the way of arting. You have to make some questionable art to make those few “great” pieces, too. So give yourself permission to make bad art — it’s okay. Arting is a process and part of that process is learning and part of learning is making mistakes and taking wrong turns. There will be moments when you fail — it’s not a crisis! It’s natural and normal. So just ease up on yourself and give yourself permission to be human. Quit with the unreasonable expectations of always being perfect. Always be self-kind and practice compassion with yourself — you and your art will benefit from it.

Psyche self-care: Often overlooked, this is crucial all the same. Indeed, there can be no joyful or effective arting without ample holistic mental health self-care! So carve out the time for your other interests, family and friends, activities and events to round out and amplify your engagement in your own life. There’s more to life than arting, so get out there and experience it! All your life experiences matter. Go to the movies, the fair, visit family, go out with buddies, game, have a movie night with your spouse, travel — live the fullness of your life, too. It won’t just nourish your heart, but it can do a lot to give you a needed rest from the studio to avoid burnout.

Reflect: Make some space for self-reflection to really get to the bottom of your block or burnout. Keep asking yourself, “why?” until you hit pay dirt. Angst is useful only so far as an alarm to a problem but beyond that is fixing the problem, right? And we do that by dissecting the problem completely — so get to picking it apart, as painful as it might seem. Was someone cruel to you regarding your art (that includes you, by the way)? Did something happen that was upsetting with your art? Whatever it was, sit with it and process it out. Journaling can be useful here, or talking to someone you trust. Even just talking to yourself out loud can bring the gunk to the surface. Whatever it is, you have to process it to grab the problem by the scruff of the neck.

Create for yourself: There’s no rule that says everything you create has to be for sale or for someone else. You can make art for yourself! In fact, making art without external expectations can be truly liberating and motivating. So making art simply for the joy of making art can be tremendously beneficial in more ways than one, especially if you’re battling block or burnout. Like when I was coming out of my painting burnout in the oil painting classes I was taking, I made all the maquettes for myself, and I found that to be such a delightful, novel sensation! Seriously, making art for yourself can be just the ticket!

Create with your kids: You know who “gets” arting best of all? Kids! Every single child is an artist, one deeply attuned to their creative drive and Voice. They have no artistic fears or qualms — to them, everything is possible! Superhero toasters? Of course! Talking trees? Why not? Whales floating over rainbows? Absolutely! So relearn the joy of creative freedom from the most natural artists on the planet, children! Indeed, you might have your best little guides living with you right now!

Make boundaries: “No” is your most potent ally and, remember, it’s a complete sentence. It will keep you from getting over-scheduled, overcommitted, and overworked, critical aspects for amending or avoiding burnout. Also setting boundaries ensures that your energies are best spent on what truly matters, that your precious focus isn’t squandered on things that don’t serve you. So whatever doesn’t align with your Voice, convictions, values, brand, goals, schedule, or even doesn’t inspire you, just say “no” and move on.

Remember: Celebrate your roots and all your achievements, no matter how small. Like peruse your portfolio, even from your early days, and soak up how far you’ve come. Kudos! Job well done! Reflecting on your accomplishments will boost your confidence and self-worth as well as remind you of your love for your art. So rather than looking at the works of others so much, take time to also gaze at your own portfolio to affirm your amazing journey. Truly, seeing how much you’ve done and how well you’ve developed can inspire further growth and exploration.

Take a break: Turn off social media periodically. Honestly, it’s really good to step away as often as you can. That constant feed of all those highly curated highlight reels can lead to a lot of confusion, negative self-talk, and disillusionment. Besides, social media isn’t real human interaction — it’s a facsimile. It’s why we can feel emptier after indulging it rather than fulfilled or more connected. This is because it lacks all the body language, tonal nuance, physicality, and in-the-moment realness we evolved to respond to — that in person, real-time communication. You cannot laugh with someone on a social media post like you can in person can you? Nope. Like that. So step away from it as often as you can to refocus your attention on your art and real-time life.

Creative mindfulness: Practicing mindfulness while in the throes of your creativity is a nifty way of building an emotionally sustainable arting environment for yourself. For instance, be present while you create your art. Not meditate per se, but accept your feelings and thoughts while working, or live in the moment with each brushstroke and toolstrike. Experience each moment as fully as you can and sit with it because this reorients your focus on the process and the experience of making your art, and not so much on the outcome.

Routine, rituals, and habit: Sometimes we do better with with these things because they lend structure and familiarity to our experience. So if they feed a positive sense of well-being for you, protect your routines, manage your habits, and engage in your rituals to best connect with your inner creative self.

Maintain perspective: Creativity and inspiration ebb and flow with some people while in others, it’s a constant gusher, and then everything in-between. Everyone is different. So just because some artist may be especially prolific doesn’t mean you’re a failure if you aren’t equally so. It doesn’t mean you have less ability, less ambition, or less inspiration or whatever, either. It simply means you’re each different and that’s okay! Just remember to always act in your own best interests and if that means the shape of your creativity is different from everyone else’s, no big deal. That’s the mysterious nature of arting!

Phew! That was a boatload of tactics, wasn’t it? Wow! But bundle all this up and we have ourselves quite the toolbox for fixing our block or burnout, don’t we? Note how multi-faceted they all are, too, as a block or burnout is best attacked on several fronts at once. So consider practicing several of them rather than just one or two for the best results.

Also recognize that both a block and burnout are psychological. There’s nothing physical stopping you — it’s all in your head, rooted in either fear or exhaustion. As such, nearly every artist will have to sit with them at some point, to some degree in their career. It’s how we manage them that determines whether we bounce back or get stuck, so pay attention closely to your sensibilities and creative spark. In fact, the challenges a block or burnout present can actually be catalysts for innovation, growth, evolution, and new-found inspiration!

Also remember that the Path of being an artist isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon. You are the tortoise, not the hare — and remember who won the race. By staying mindful, practicing energy and time management, seeking growth and evolution, focusing on the process, and challenging your comfort zones and conventions, you can help to keep your inspirations fired up and your creative excitement hummin’ along. In this way, rather than being roadblocks, our brushes with block or burnout can instead become valuable stepping stones as we evolve and finesse our art, all the while developing our creative resilience and affirming our dedication to our art.

Preventing Creative Burnout

Believe it or not, we can prevent artist block or burnout from ever happening, no matter how rigorous our job. It’s not an inevitable fate for the artist. How? Well, by adopting some proactive tactics, artists can foster resilience to protect their creativity. So what are some of these strategies? Well, they’re as follows:

• Prioritize Self-Care: This is a pillar of burnout prevention so nurture your physical, mental, and emotional health. In particular, eat properly, hydrate, and get plenty of quality sleep. Sleep deprivation is a major contributor to burnout so don’t skimp on sleep! Along those lines, inject relaxation techniques into your routine like deep breathing, meditation, or mindfulness exercises. Take breaks, too. All this can help reduce anxiety, improve focus, and mediate stress.
• Establish Boundaries: It’s not always easy when we work at home, but try to establish clear boundaries between your work and personal life. Like if you can, have a separate distraction-free room or building for your studio, and keep it all contained in there. If you need to, manage your time thusly as well with designated work hours. Even avoid checking emails or taking calls or texts outside of those designated times like if you were at a conventional job.
• Explore Creative Options: Explore and experiment with new media, art forms, styles, and aesthetics to avoid monotony. Pursue your other hobbies that bring you satisfaction and relaxation which can be anything from gardening to gaming to cooking to ping pong…whatevs.
• Find a Support Network: Build bonds with like-minded folks who’ll understand your challenges with being an artist, often other artists. So join communities online or in-person where you can connect with other artists, offer mutual support and kudos, and share your challenges and experiences. Or seek mentorship for advice, encouragement, and guidance which can help you navigate the complications with being an artist.
• Challenge your inner critic: Negative self-talk will exacerbate burnout so challenge it. Instead, give yourself praise even for the smallest victories. Absolutely, be compassionate to yourself and remember that you’re human after all. And focus on the process of making art rather than the outcome to amplify your art joy.
• Redefine Success: Stop chasing external validation to instead find self-worth in your intrinsic motivations. So what does success mean to you if not defined by likes, shares, awards, contracts, or sales prices? It should most definitely have a higher meaning than all of that! Indeed, you should celebrate your creative journey so focus on the fun, learning, growing, creating, and exploration of it all instead.
• Ease up: Embrace wabi-sabi earnestly. Dump the perfectionist mindset and simply relearn the joy of making art as a process, experience, and journey. Indeed, when you create in joy and freedom, your great art will simply make itself so ease up and stop trying to force it with fearful perfectionism.
• Remember: Never forget your job as tasked by the Universe — use your Voice courageously and keep that channel open. That's all it is. It's not about being perfect or creating the greatest pieces ever. It's simply to be wholly yourself in your art.
• Go "home": Know how to always find your way "home" no matter where you end up with your art. Recenter, reconnect, recalibrate, and retry to continue to make more art. Because that's the answer and the fix to every single arting problem — simply make more art.

Conclusion

It’s important to understand that artist block or burnout is a process, not a single event. As such, recovery will take time and proactive effort on your part. But by applying these strategies and preventative measures, you can tackle either one to reignite your creativity. Just remember you aren’t alone. Many artists have suffered either or both of these conditions, too, and there are resources to help you find your way back to the light. Reach out. Indeed, navigating block or burnout often requires a multi-pronged approach and thankfully there’s that boatload of strategies for you we discussed. In turn, you should also cultivate resilience and healthy coping mechanisms, and apply those preventive measures as needed.

Because creating art should be an enriching, fun, positive experience. If it’s not — change what you’re doing! Don’t wait for things to get so bad that you collapse into a negative singularity! Be aware of your own state of being so you can identify the best strategies for catching block or burnout early to nip them in the bud. In a sense then, beating block or burnout is in part being super kind to yourself while being quite firm with yourself, too. And it helps to know that either block or burnout is a psychological manifestation of fear or exhaustion, and you can fix it. This busted engine can indeed be brought roaring back to life with a handy toolbox full of these effective tactics!

On that note, stay connected to your creative self to keep block and burnout at bay. Never forget that creativity is your genetic inheritance — we are a creator species! It’s what we do, it’s just in our very DNA. Every child with a box of crayons knows that! Creativity is something you’re born with that never dies. Now sure, it can lay dormant but it can also thrive under duress — it all depends on you. One way or ‘nuther though, creativity is impossibly resilient, adaptive, and powerful! Lean into it.

But while block and burnout can seem like a wasteland — which they are, make no mistake on that — they also do represent a huge potential to make a major change. Put another way, it’s a wild opportunity to reinvent yourself and your art. Once you get this about either of them, perhaps you can shift your mindset away from the crushing negatives and towards the promising positives. Because your mindset will make all the difference. If you challenge and change the false notions that are holding you back from the artist you were destined to be and you realize that it just takes the smallest, teeniest step to get going forwards, you can again find inspiration in your art and conquer either block or burnout. So think of the experience as a door knob rather than a padlock.

Because neither block or burnout are inevitable, even in our enormously challenging art form and even more stringent showing paradigm and art market. By understanding the causes, symptoms, and then implementing aggressive strategies, we can not only prevent or overcome block or burnout, but we can emerge with renewed purpose and energy on the other side. So even if you’re suffering either block or burnout right now, know there is hope! You can reclaim your creativity, passion, and inspiration to create a viable, sustainable, and enormously fulfilling art life again.

I hope this series provided you with some practical tips and insights to help you beat block and burnout for good. But despite it all, above all else, remember to always be kind to yourself. Block or burnout doesn’t mean you don’t care, it’s doesn’t mean you’re indifferent, inferior, or lazy, and it certainly doesn’t mean that you don’t have skill, worth, or talent. Those are little lies they tell you to keep you stuck. The truth is, each can be made into just a temporary state, not a permanent situation if you’re willing to fight for your art. And fight for it you must! “An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one,” said Charles Horton Cooley. Indeed. You can rekindle your creative fire! You see, it never really went out — it never goes out, not ever. It just smolders and smokes a bit. But blow on it, feed it kindling, be patient and attentive, then watch those glorious flames rise rise rise! Now that’s a proper bonfire! Blaze brightly, my friend!

“There's nothing in the world that breeds success like success.”

— Bob Ross

Block and Burnout: How to Rekindle the Creative Fire Part VI

Block and Burnout: How to Rekindle the Creative Fire Part V

Introduction to Part V

We’re back for another round of turnaround strategies that knock out artist block and burnout once and for all! So far, we’ve explored what they are, their symptoms, and what causes them, and for the last few parts of this 6-part series, we’ve been deep diving into many practical tactics for dealing with them. Because no creative should have to wrestle with either only because they are preventable, they can be squelched or at the very least, managed. And the more people who are creative in our artform, the better off our artform will be by having more awareness for all the challenges that go into it all this madness. It also gets all those walls of nekkid resins and body OFs painted up and gorgeous to compete in our many shows. So let's get to it because in this Part V, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover! So let's just jump right in...

The Turnaround Strategies, cont’d

Creative sanctuary: Your creative space should be your sanctuary, your citadel, your garden, your castle keep. It should be the one place in the entire world that’s peaceful, impervious, and wholly yours, if possible. So fill it with personal touches that bring you joy, whatever they may be. Like I have all sorts of curios and photos encrusting near every surface of my studio only because they make me smile. What’s more, attend to the lighting in your studio because it not only changes the mood, but also the usability of your creative space. For instance, a flooding of nice bright light is a great mood enhancer as well as amplifying your ability to better judge color and shape. But it’s amazing how so much more light can brighten your attitude almost instantly, so add lamps or install lots of windows. (Pro tip: Use LED lamps that have a natural light setting and set them all to that setting.)

Tunnel vision is verboten: Do you create with only the outcome in mind? Do you have a specific idea of how your piece should look when finished? Do you begin your creation with a very exacting endgame in mind? If you do, you’re probably destined to hit block or burnout eventually. You see, arting is fundamentally mercurial and unpredictable. How many times has your piece taken on a life of its own and spun off in different directions? And though it comes out quite unlike your original vision, it’s cool all the same, right? Yeah, like that. Making art is essentially a spontaneous act of creation that can take on a life of its own. In fact, if you’re doing it right, in the thick of it, you become a vessel for something indescribable and the piece will literally make itself right before your eyes — and you have no idea how that’s happening. That’s the sweet spot. Never fight the piece! It knows exactly what it needs, all the time. You just have to listen to it and follow. Allow yourself to be led. Go where the piece wants to go. You and your art are dancing, and it's best if it's the lead. Because believe me, where it will take you may be surprising, but it’s a whole lot more fun and often with results that are far more compelling. Because if you start fighting your piece, guess what? Yep — you’re toying with block and burnout now. Don’t do that! So to become a more process-oriented artist, try these five tactics:

• First, forge a new path, go off your customary, beaten train, unlearn your comfort zones and creative routines. Play around with new new new! As Edgar Degas observed, “Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.”
• Second, focus on the steps for making your piece rather than on the finished vision of it so much. Sure, we need that vision to chase — our Big Picture — just don’t let it consume your focus. Primarily keep your attention on each step as you go then, chiseling away at your vision piece by piece, immersed in the creation of it.
• Third, quit overthinking things! Stop with the rational thinking to instead be in the flow of your creativity. Turn off your mind and allow your artistic instincts to take over. Also be present in the creative moment. Feel your toolstrikes and brushstrokes, be one with your paints or clay, letting yourself be transported into another spacetime made only of your arting moment. This is the creative groove — ride it out in joy!
• Fourth, recognize that arting has no predetermined path. The point of art is to create and that entails exploration and transformation, play and fun. In short, art is really about the process and the finished piece is merely the incidental by-product. So let go of your urge to control your tools so much to therefore dictate the outcome of your work too much. Now — yes — we have objectives to ping if we hope to create a realistic horse in clay or pigment, but beyond that, there’s open potential, isn’t there? Explore it all with an open creative mind and with a lesser grip on the outcome. Really, the very best works are created in the guts, your instincts where your soul resides. 
• Fifth, embrace the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi wholeheartedly, the realization that nothing is permanent and everything is imperfect. Undeniably, wabi-sabi is perhaps the single most liberating concept you can adopt as a creative that not only makes your experience so much more wonderful, but will actually improve your work in unexpected roundabout ways. As Stephen Hawking said, “One of the basic rules of the universe is that nothing is perfect. Perfection simply doesn't exist...Without imperfection, neither you nor I would exist.” Yup.

Simplify then complicate: Even the most hyper-realistic pieces are based on abstract shapes first. So don’t get intimidated or daunted by the complicated aspects — start simple and abstract then add complications in layers as you go. A nifty way to refine this approach is to do a lot of abstracted, simplified sketches or doodles, deconstructing the equine into the most basic shapes and curves. Like in my sketchbook, my horses are extremely simplified to capture movement, gesture, or posture rather than being all fleshed out. I can see them already fleshed out in my mind’s eye, so alls I need for my sketchbook are the basics to capture the inspiration.

Focus on narrative: Rather than being so fixated on representational art, or “this is a Quarter Horse” or "this is a Clydesdale" kinda motive, spice things up by creating with narratives. This won’t only add a ton of more interest to your inspirations and process, but inject a far more compelling appeal into your portfolio, too. So consider your symbolisms, motifs, visual language, and narrative themes then actively play with them.

Maintain perspective: Skill can be learned, talent can be practiced, inspiration can be generated, motivation can be stirred, vision can be cultivated, discipline can be fostered, passion can be ignited, Voice can be ampflied. It’s all doable, it’s all fixable, it’s all reachable. It’s all within your grasp if only you actively reach for it. So what’s stopping you? As ol’ Bob Ross wisely advised, “Talent is a pursued interest. Anything that you're willing to practice, you can do.” Yep.

Always go “home”: As Elizabeth Gilbert so smartly says, and I paraphrase, “Always find your way home no matter if your work catapults you to wild success or wild failure, because both are equally traumatizing.” What’s “home”? Well, it’s that essential drive that you love more than yourself, that joyful, resonating essence of who and what you’re truly all about. And it can be anything — your family, your pets, your gardening, writing, a favorite hobby, whatever trips your trigger in your most innermost core. For many artists then, it’s their passion for their art. So find it by always asking “why?” until you get to your proverbial magnetic core. Then cultivate it, plant your “home” directly on top of it, and always stay connected to it, able to find your way “home” no matter where your creative adventures take you. So, for instance, if you feel yourself uninspired, intimidated by success, or horrified by failure, think about what resonates with you so deeply that you would create again regardless of the outcome then reorient back there to create again from that point. Remember why you art in the first place and hold that drive always close, using it as a sunstone to always find your way “home.” Do this properly, and this becomes your single most amazing and invincible superpower in your arsenal to combat block or burnout. (Pro tip: Pair this with wabi-sabi and you have yourself an invincible one-two punch!)

Declutter your mind: A mind clogged up by “mental clutter” inhibits creativity with distractions, stress, and drained energy. So find a way to purge those distracting thoughts and feelings for the duration of your arting. Practice meditation, deep breathing, and perhaps even journal or vlog them out. Or even make your arting about them to process them through composition, color, narrative, and gesture. Vent them out! Art can be tremendously expressive, cathartic, and transformative — use it! Take your turmoil and troubles, and turn them into art! That’s what it’s there for! Or on the flipside, use arting as a sanctuary-laden therapy for your inner struggles, using creativity as a balm for your angst. Art can be monumentally soothing, affirmative, and reassuring — use it! That’s what it’s there for!

Revisit visuals: What are some of your favorite themes, motifs, narratives, and visuals? Identify them and revisit them creatively. Often times, familiarity can feel more comfortable and nonthreatening, teasing out your arting more easily and coaxing your sensibilities better. There’s a lot to be said for hiking the same path if it brings you serenity, comfort, and enjoyment. Besides, there’s always a potential fun new series to explore in that approach, isn’t there?

Adopt actual goals: Do you want to be a better artist? Do you want to be more creative and productive? Do you want to get rid of your creative fear? Do you want to develop better ideas or a stronger Voice? Well, stop. Just stop. Yes — stop! You see, more times than you think block and burnout are born from self-deceptive goals. And all of that is self-deceptive! Instead, replace it with actual goals that are kinder and attainable. For example, work on your courage and confidence in your creativity, develop a more proactive mindset, get more in-tune with your “home,” or become more intentional in your arting, with a stronger purpose. You see, once you achieve these actual goals, you’ll automatically become a better artist that’s more creative and productive, who has conquered their fears and who developed more compelling ideas with a stronger Voice. Do you see how that works? Self-deceptive goals work from a position of weakness while actual goals work from a position of strength — always pick the latter. This is because actual goals are growth-oriented based on steps you can actually attain, without comparisons or value judgments, building motivation and providing structure to boot. Those are your stepping stones to generate real creative agency. Along those lines, don’t overload yourself with too many projects at once. It’s okay to have multiple projects going, but just pace yourself and proceed in a way where they’re actually completed rather than just spinning your wheels and getting overwhelmed. On that note, consider breaking down your workload into manageable steps with attainable deadlines — create a production schedule. This can help you be more proactive and organized which can empower you and reduce stress.

Be led: Quit with micromanaging your art! Stop trying to cram a square peg into a round hole! Instead, let it lead the dance, let it go where it will, and follow without judgment. Like transform accidental creative events into purposeful ones, learning how to channel spontaneous creativity into intentional practice. This is exactly how I create my art — I follow the happy accidents and work in a way that generates more, following them to completion. As such, my pieces simply create themselves and I’m their means to self-actualize. It’s a beautiful, mysterious feeling!

Create together: You know what’s super fun with creativity? Being creative with other creatives! So consider setting up some arting playdates in your home or even on Zoom. Make it a regular thing! Indeedy, creativity is extremely contagious and there’s tremendous fun and joy to be found arting with a rambunctious group! So also consider joining a local art group or event, or collaborate with other artists.

Conclusion to Part V

As you can see over these last few Parts, the effectiveness of all these tactics rests on one thing: Your proactive gumption to initiate them. You don’t have to do all of them, but the fact is that the more you deploy, the more effective your results. This is because block and burnout can be very stubborn, especially if you’ve been suffering them for some time. They can indeed be like heavy weights on your shoulders. However, get just a handful of these strategies in gear, and you have a really good shot at lifting that burden once and for all! That’s worth the effort, isn’t it? So in Part VI, the last part, we’re going to complete our exploration of these tactics as well as take a look at how to prevent block and burnout, giving us a big ol' mecha-punch against them.

“Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.”

— Stella Adler

Block and Burnout: How to Rekindle the Creative Fire Part V

Block and Burnout: How to Rekindle the Creative Fire Part IV

Introduction to Part IV

We’re back in Part IV of this 6-part series exploring artist block and burnout, and many of the practical strategies for jettisoning them out of your airlock. Because it’s critical to protect your arting since your creativity is immensely important both for you and our genre. You see, creativity is very very good for you! Indeedy, it's good for your brain, body, and wellbeing, as more and more studies are discovering. Creativity has even been found to be as effective as regular exercise to slow biological aging! Know it or not, too, but you being creative could mean a breath of new life into our art form since we just never know where the next innovation or fresh insight will come from, do we? It could come from you! So if you develop more fearlessness in your creativity, enough to really jump in head first into our arts, that’s a win win all the way ‘round! Woot! And knowing how to keep block and burnout in check is a survival skill for any artist, working in any genre. Ya gotta have this toolkit! So enough talk! Let’s continue our deep dive into the proactive strategies that can help us carve them out from our art life!…

The Turnaround Strategies, cont’d

Schedule it: Focus on the habit of making art, set a schedule. Folks like us create not for the big reveal, do we? No. We create because it’s in our bones, it’s who we are. Arting is as necessary and natural as breathing. So commit to consistent small arting sessions rather than simply waiting for inspiration to pummel your noggin. “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working,” said Pablo Picasso, and he’s absolutely right. So create art daily, even on the smallest scale, regardless of the end goal or result. Now it may be a challenge in a busy calendar to make time for arting, but like any important appointment, arting deserves a spot in your daily routine, too. So just schedule regular, undisturbed blocks of time to art. Even short sessions can lead to goodly progress and maintain artistic rhythm. Heck, it can be as simple as doodling or sketching, nothing major, just get to it. Truly, integrating creativity into your everyday life can cultivate a more productive artistic journey and lead to tangible growth a lot faster than waiting around for inspiration to kick in. Then when you’re ready, you can make arting a more expansive part of your day rather than just a scheduled session — or not. Whatever works for you, whatever gets you creative regularly is the right choice. The point is to create consistency, practice daily, and don’t break the artistic flow. Show up. Sure, it takes discipline, but once it gains momentum, you’re going to feel a lot more empowered and energized, then just watch your courage and confidence grow! Routine breeds consistency and consistency breeds inspiration, so show up and do the work — your art will thank you.

Trick yourself: Tell yourself that you’re going to destroy the first steps you create whether sculpting, painting, tack-making or whatever. Into the proverbial bin. You see, this releases pressure and destroys expectations, but paradoxically, you often end up keeping those initial steps or pieces anyway. But you need to give yourself permission to first vent the pressure.

Inspire Inspiration: Sometimes our inspiration needs a little help, like its pump needs to be primed. So go to horse shows and expos, galleries and museums, visit open studios and art fairs. Read poetry, look at horse books, watch horse videos or movies, listen to music, take some reference photographs. Plus, engaging other forms of art can inspire your imagination and infuse some new perspectives and aesthetics into your work. Allowing creativity to seep into every aspect of you life can till fertile soil for your inspiration because ideas can come from many unexpected sources. And never underestimate the power of Nature to be monumentally inspirational! Then put yourself to work with sketching, doodling, drawing, photographing, whatever. Do some plein air painting to capture a compelling in situ moment. Whatever trips your trigger. But one inspiration will lead to another which will lead to another, and soon you’ll be in a proverbial room full of countless inspirations ping-ponging off the walls! That’s how inspiration actually works! Once you get it going, it self-sustains as one idea births another, and off you go.

Art play: The truth is, if you’re doing it right, your art is always play. So when you get stuck, or are uninspired or unmotivated, remember to get back to playing around again with your creativity. Experiment. FAFO. Explore and discover. Push boundaries and challenge convention, especially your own. Not only does this expand your skillset and explore your potential, but it’ll reignite your arting to keep your work fresh and evolving. Remember, learning means experimentation so make that intrinsic to each and every piece, and reinvigorated creativity isn’t far behind. For instance, just for fun, switch out the typical colors on your palette — see what happens! Or even just add one new color and see what’s produced. When sculpting, make it about exploring narrative, structure, gesture, expression, mood, or novelty rather than just another routine “this is a horse” piece. Always remember that art and play are meant to pair up, so smash them together in your own creative Hadron Collider!

Start small: Tackle a small, simple piece to create a sense of accomplishment. You can’t deny that the sheer scale of our task can feel really overwhelming so scale it back. Likewise, break down your process or project into small manageable baby steps, as small as you need them to be. Like rather than be intimidated by that daunting sanding job you have to do on that expensive resin, just sand one leg, even one foot. Then when you’re done with that, move to another body portion the next day. No big whoop — you’re getting it done, slowly but surely. Remember, the tortoise won the race! But babystepping can make even the most daunting, ambitious tasks attainable and more importantly, feel attainable. Indeed, setting smaller, manageable goals can be just the ticket so choose the smallest unit of creativity it would take to get you arting again. Remember, no skyscraper was built all at once!

Personal challenges: Establish achievable goals and objectives, and the more novel, the better. In other words, the more they get you to play and explore, all the better, right? This helps to provide some structure while keeping you engaged plus it’s a big injection of learning and skill building, all of which will certainly refocus your attention back onto the process and away from the outcome.

Embrace failure: Your fear of failure is a formidable obstacle, isn’t it? Blorg. But the truth is that every piece is a learning adventure, not a test. What’s more, absolutely no breakthroughs will be found if you stay in your comfort zone. The real joy of arting is in the making of it, of all the discovery, exploration, growth, revelations, and happy accidents you stumbled onto while creating it. It’s miraculous to see your piece just come alive in your hands, step by step! And the thing is, we can correct our mistakes or realign our vision as we go, right? There’s no law that says your first toolstrokes are you only and last ones! Many mediums give you ample room to try again and again and again. Indeed, on a white-grey oil painted piece I was creating as an experiment, Ta’alaq, I seriously messed up his paintjob. It was so awful — ack! But no big whoop! I just painted right over my mistake, the whole thing, and tried again and succeeded on the second go. Never be afraid of trying again.

Mediating criticism: Here’s the deal — you make art, there will be a critic. That’s part of the Faustian Deal. That critic can be someone else, and often is, but your first and most lethal critic is yourself, isn’t it? But here’s the thing, “the audience comes last,” as Rick Rubin so astutely observes. And he’s right — the only person you need to be concerned with pleasing with your art is you, and only you. Ignore all the rest out there as pointless noise. People will talk….so? Let them. Their opinion, either good or bad, just shouldn't hold sway. See, no one knows your Truth like you do, do they? Nope. And there are so many trolls out there as well as careless, thoughtless clods to boot. Don’t allow the wrong person to discourage you but instead allow the right people to encourage you, and that includes yourself! Indeed, if you create work just for yourself, it’s amazing how your art will become so much more powerful, authentic, compelling, and unique! It’ll become far more Voiceful, and that, artist, is your true calling. Not to make perfection, which is impossible to attain, not to chase external validation, which is toxic, but to make Voiceful art, courageously and joyfully. That’s it, that’s all. So get to it! As Andy Warhol wisely advised, “Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.”

Dampen distraction: In our hyper-connected world nowadays, distraction is everywhere. FOMO, doomscrolling, bingewatching, social media, news, radio, launches, and other endless stimulation…it’s a lot. It’s too much. The human animal wasn’t meant to function on the global stage all the time, if at all. It was meant to live in its little neck of the woods and deal just with that. So all this influx of distraction can be unknowingly very stressful and draining — so cut it out. When you’re arting, make it a non-negotiable rule of no distractions. Leave your devices out of the studio if need be. No phone calls, no texts, no checking social media. Schedule appointments, activities, and chores for other days. Do whatever it takes to block out uninterrupted, undistracted creative quiet time and fully immerse yourself in it without a care. It’s good for you and your art.

Careful consumption: Likewise, be exceedingly mindful of the content you consume. Is that content positive and inspiring, supportive of your efforts and psyche? Or is it draining, upsetting, and anxiety-inducing? What you expose yourself to will define the flavor of your day and even influence your ability to create. So also consider keeping your finger on the pulse of things at a set time of the day, and no more. Yes, we need to stay current, but there’s also a balance to be struck with our everyday lives and functionality — and our creativity. Stay mindful of that balance at all times. Curate your experience carefully because ultimately it’s all about your mental health and your ability to stay creative that can be just as important. And truth be told, staying balanced and joyfully creative is perhaps the most punk rock thing you can be doing nowadays.

Structured distraction: Unfortunately many creatives have the idea that they need to be hyper-focused to create good work, even for hours on end. However, the human brain didn’t evolve for this, sustaining uninterrupted attention for hours upon hours. It’s made to function between focus and periodic distraction, so make those distractions strategic. Take breaks! Instead of working through demotivation, boredom, fatigue, or disinterest, take a tactical break. This will reset you, prevent creative fatigue, improve your state of mind, and help you create even better work. This can be particularly important with really tedious tasks such as ticking, dappling, and prepping. So take your time, take breaks, and allow your mind to reset itself.

Less comparisons, more creating: Quit with the habitual comparison of your art to the work of others! Quit internally lamenting your “failings” when you study other works at shows or expos. Quit thinking you aren’t good enough for gosh sakes! Do you think your skills are too lousy to count, your ideas and inspirations subpar, your artworks average or even bad? You’re feeling inferior and insignificant? Okay then — by what measure? You see, comparing yourself to others is deceiving, self-defeating, and useless. Now, yes, it’s okay to draw inspiration from other artists, but it’s not okay to compare your work to theirs. Why? Well, it’s an apples and oranges comparison! They are not alike! Your magic isn’t like their magic whatsoever and theirs is nothing like yours — nor should it be. Because here’s the thing, you don’t need their magic, yours is more than enough! Trust me, yours is plenty! Indeed, your Voice is unique in all of space and time — think about that for a moment. Why in the world would you want to snuff it out or pollute it, even deny it? Instead then, take all that energy and direct it right back onto making more of your art, Voiceful, loud and proud! That’s where it’s better spent anyway. And you can only be yourself, right? The only one qualified to be you is you! The only thing the Universe tasks you with, artist, isn’t perfection or creating The GOAT piece, it’s simply this: Use your pure, unique Voice courageously, keeping the inspirational channel open. Bingo! So stop trying to create like another artist, stop trying to be an artist you aren’t because you don’t need to be! You just focus on magical you, on your own unique supernatural Voice, and once you find it, cultivate it and express it fully in your art then let the chips fall where they may. Absolutely, always stay true to your own Voice because not only is this more fulfilling, it makes your work far more authentic, distinctive, compelling, expressive, and even transforms it into that indescribable thing you’ve probably been so ardently searching for all these years.

New stuff: We all know the power of new art supplies, don’t we? Oh, yes! So find motivation in reconnecting with your materials, new or otherwise. The sensory boost you get from even playing with your brushes can spark dormant creativity all by itself. Or play with colors you avoid or haven’t used before, or new types of clays or epoxies. Play around with your color pencils in novel ways. You see, it’s not just about regarding your art as a product, but remembering it as a process, a tactile, fascinating experience that’s as much a part of arting as anything else. So buy some new art supplies and play around with them, or grab ones you hardly use and futz around with those. Either which way, playing with new stuff can really get those creative embers fired up!

Conclusion to Part IV

Interesting stuff, huh? These strategies are so simple, but so effective! In essence, they trick your sensibilities into making this artform less intimidating, or rather, help your brain believe that it truly can do it — because it can! That’s the thing, every human brain is a creative genius simply waiting to be tapped into, so who knows what sort of amazing potential yours holds just waiting to be unlocked! In Part V then, we’re going to explore even more breakthrough strategies you can apply to knock out block and burnout. They’re easy, they’re practical, and they’re highly effective — a triple punch!

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

— Dr. Seuss

Block and Burnout: How to Rekindle the Creative Fire Part IV