As artists, our eyes get used to seeing our creativity and sometimes we get either overwhelmed or bored with the output. I thing sometimes overwhelmed and bored have the same symptoms – you just want to retreat and do something different. In any case, when my eyes get “desensitized” to the beauty of the work that I am doing, I start to feel like it’s all kind of old and stale. I also start to think that others must be ready to see me do something totally new. And that’s where things start to get messed up.
It’s that desire to make something “completely new” and different that can lead to forced, stiff, and even sometimes dead, artistic output. It is forced because I wasn’t led by the creative spirit inside me, but instead by an outside drive, namely, to please the imaginary “other”. It’s not the creation of something new that leads to stiffness, but the fact that the push came from the outside instead of growing naturally from the inside. That’s not good because invariably, whatever I produce when I am being moved by outside forces doesn’t please me and doesn’t have that quality of artistic vitality.
Sometimes when this overwhelming (or underwhelming, or as a friend used to say, whelming) boredom starts, I go back and look at some of my old abandoned projects. I am usually amazed at how much I like them now! I don’t always use them for anything – just simply looking at them tends to inspire me toward other things. Other times, I just put the tools down and walk away for the day, or even a couple of days. I give myself permission to back up from the “trees” or the details of the creative process, so that I can change my perspective and see the forest. Usually just a little while of gazing at the beautiful green forest is enough to convince me that the trees are pretty darn good the way they are.
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