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I need to find back my confidence, create fearlessly

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find back the joy in creating without boundaries.

I think the right approach for this is a playful, childlike perspective on creating.

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Elena Shashkina

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the name I came up with whilst writing what I am feeling like lately

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Sep 2, 2024 - This Pin was discovered by hope. Discover (and save!) your own Pins on Pinterest

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“Why would those two things be of importance? The playfulness is because in that moment of childlike play, you’re much more in touch with your unconscious. The second is that when you defer decisions as long as possible, it’s giving your unconscious the maximum amount of time to come up with something.

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Comparison: ‘It won’t look as good as theirs.’
Fatigue: ‘I don’t have time to finish this today.’
Anxiety: ‘What if it doesn’t look like the real thing?’
Creative Scars: ‘I can’t draw.’

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I have discovered another thing I need to create joyfully, which is good company.

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Dag Simone,

In je vroeger werk gebruikte je veel fotografie waar je groezeligheid met (kinderlijke) glossy (bv van de modefotografie) combineerde. Zwaar en licht kinderlijk, alsof glossy iets sprookjesachtig suggererend maar waar een wat groezelige realiteit door heen schijnt. Simone in ons gesprek kwam naar voren dat je het lastig vindt om lang aan een idee te werken of dat je het te snel afmaakt, dat je snel afgeleid kan zijn of je concentratie kan verliezen of vast kan lopen. Je kwam erachter dat het helpt om met iemand samen te werken of iets te organiseren. In dat opzicht paste Syb bij jou omdat de setting je creativiteit stimuleert en je niet valt in een gat.

Je was nu manieren aan het bedenken hoe je deze werkwijze kan voortzetten, hoe je bijvoorbeeld zelf een residentie kan regelen of werksessies kan opzetten. Mogelijk kan dit nu een goed doel zijn. Wil je mogelijk ook in aanraking komen met kinderen die bezwijken onder het resultaatgericht onderwijs waar weinig ruimte is om te spelen (zie ook bron Homo Ludens).

Ik vroeg me af of je het mogelijk ook fijn vindt om snel te werken en snel dingen af te ronden en juist niet lang aan een idee te werken of uit te werken en de diepte in te gaan. Maar mogelijk bedoelde eerder dat je te snel tot een af product komt zonder veel gespeeld te hebben. Ook je interesse naar een staat van spelen houdt verband met je intentie om in modus van plezier te geraken inzake het maken. Ik vroeg me af of jij je werk ook in relatie ziet tot een prestatiemaatschappij waar het eerder gaat om het bereiken van resultaat en waar het minder gaat om het spelen. Deze gedachte is in de laatste decennia sterk geworden, het idee van maakbaarheid, en als het resultaat slecht is heb je gefaald, waardoor het experiment om je bijvoorbeeld zelf te leren kennen wegvalt. Een constante druk van de resultaatgerichte prestatiemaatschappij. Of is deze druk juist nodig?

Byung Chul Han is hier bijvoorbeeld op ingegaan. Zie ook zijn artikel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNkDeUApreo

Maar ook denkers als Michel Sanders en Grunberg. Zie artikelen.

Mogelijk zijn er raakvlakken met Jaron die zich wil focussen op het nutteloze, waar het eindproduct wordt weggehaald waardoor de nadruk komt te liggen op het spel en nieuwsgierigheid.  Kijk ook naar zijn padlet:

The playfulness is voor jouw belangrijk because in that moment of childlike play, you’re much more in touch with your unconscious, schrijf je. And you write: The second is that when you defer decisions as long as possible, it’s giving your unconscious the maximum amount of time to come up with something.

Mogelijk dat je het artikel van Joke Hermsen interessant vindt die een pleidooi doet om durven te vervelen, wat tegelijk lastig is in een wereld van clickbaits waarin je meteen met een resultaat moet antwoorden. Kunnen we tijd vertragen en verdragen in die tijd dat er niet meteen iets komt maar welk door die traagheid heen moeten? Hoe verhoudt dit tot een maatschappij van media.

https://www.filosofie.nl/joke-hermsen-durf-je-te-vervelen-2/

Je had nu het idee om plattegronden van plekken te maken  van Groningen van krijt die andere niet kennen. Ik heb het hier ook over gehad met Julius en hem verteld hoe voor Aboriginals de plekken op hun schildrijen/plattegronden speciale plekken zijn herinneringen en verhalen. Zie links en padlet Julius.  Ook heb ik met hem gehad over derive van de situationisten die kritische waren op moderne stad (gentrificatie) omdat het avontuur uit de stad ging, he verloor aan onverwachte plekken en steegjes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9rive

https://pec.ac.uk/news_entries/relationship-between-creative-industries-and-gentrification-overstated-says-new-study/

De speelsheid ging weg, ze waren allen geïnspireerd door de theorie van de Homo ludens.

Groet,

Hille

Keywords

#Gaining experience in writing project proposals and describing my work and concepts.

#Applying for open calls and developing my work.

#I want to explore beyond what I think is possible and draw inspiration from that.

#I want to push the boundaries of photography and printmaking, combining them with as many other forms of expression as possible to expand the potential of my work.

#I want to improve the structure and rhythm of my work process. So far, I haven't established a clear workflow in research, sketching, and execution, and I still have a lot to learn in this area. I often spend too much time on research or get stuck during sketching due to uncertainty about the concept or myself.

#A lot of time tends to pass between starting a new idea and completing the final work, and I want to learn how to make this process smoother.

#Photography somewhere between glossy and the gritty everyday.

Viola and June, In relation to childhood trauma and growing up, I wanted to refer you to the work of

Gabor Mate. He is a Canadian renowned physician, trauma and addiction expert:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJiqLWAclm4

Articles about play and the homo ludens might also be interesting for you. See:

HomoLudensLiminal

Also, how unlearning can lead to playing again. See article and folder:

Unlearning

"June, Donna Haraway might still be interesting, she wants to speculate on new future family structures inspired by the word kinship and explore what is biologically and technically possible to change in humans. She has also created her speculative narrative in which she speculates about the possibilities in the future. See:"

Making kin beyond babies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UtrXjE9gPQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPQMFbTHbAM

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Filosoof Michael Sandel ontrafelt de populistische opstand_ _Arbeiders beseffen dat de elite op hen

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to break up big projects into smaller pieces will make it easier to complete. the big project could never really be finished or unfinished, more like an ever growing thing like a painting

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About the exhibition:

Parallel play is an exhibition by Eleanor Anderson and Morgan Thomas Shankweiler examining the relationships between work, play and social discourse. Through a balance of finished work and a series of interactive games, Parallel Play provides a non-threatening perspective through which to recognize the importance of playfulness within art-making, and life in general. The exhibition ultimately examines the agency of the artist-creator, the agency of the gallery visitor, and social agency within communities and greater society. Though the artists themselves approach the idea of play differently, the commonality of play-as-process is made visible in the work. The artists nudge the viewer towards joy, connection and an awareness of how a playful approach to life can alter how we engage with the world around us.

For Shankweiler, play is rule-bound and applied. In her process, Shankweiler creates games with rules that mimic real-world systems and information, including the chaos and random chance of everyday existence. To "play" a game is a fluxus exercise in relinquishing her own control over the resulting image, returning to the canvas at the end to interpret the results with her own hand and choices. In her interactive work, the visitor is asked to play a game themselves, allowing them to see real-world systems form in front of their eyes, by their own hand, different every time, and ever-changing as the participants change. Play is a vehicle for abstraction, for the hands-on sharing of information and for the building of community.

For Anderson, play is a moving target; challenging her to stay present and open to improvised solutions during the process of creation. Her pieces start without a preconceived plan; along the journey she embraces material-errantry and actively resists the urge to turn towards logic - instead, trusting the errant route in search of what IS without jumping to convention.

The works of the two artists compliment each other. Anderson's most recent series "Intuitive Cartographies" employs large scale fabric collage - using the material language of fabric, stitching and machine embroidery to create works that read as aerial diagrams of playgrounds. She manipulates fabric and found-objects in a patchwork of linking, overlapping rectilinear shapes, sprinkled with graphic mark- making and notation. Other works are strands or grids of baubled, caged, linked and poofed fabric that hang from the walls and ceiling, responding to the gallery's physical space. Shankweiler's work is conceptual tapestry. Her works on paper and panel play with the visual dichotomy of three dimensional trompe l'œil rope against the flat rendering of her game tiles. As a byproduct of her game/play system, her linear ropes, knots and links are supported by a gridded scaffold, mirroring the angles of the collaged quilt squares in Anderson's work. The colors used by both artists are bright and bold, eye-catching like children's toys.

Together, Anderson and Shankweiler exemplify how professional artists can be playful and hardworking, joyful and serious, lighthearted and relevant. Play begets joy. Joy begets creativity. Creativity begets innovation. Play resonates with people of all ages coming into the space. It is a language of agency that transcends age, class, education, race and religion.

Parallel Play will be on view in Gallery 1 at Da Vinci Art Alliance starting March 1st until March 19th. The opening reception will take place on Saturday March 4th, from 4-7pm.

About the artists:

As artist cousins, Shankweiler and Anderson often rub up against the great "why" of art-making. Certainly they have "art" in their veins (as evidenced by relatives' work and hobbies) but the reality is, they can't help themselves. The work they create is borne of an intense and constant drive to make things and the ability to hyper-focus into a flow-state when working (and playing) in the studio. Both Shankweiler and Anderson are inspired by work that uses play, experimentation and chance as a clear and essential part of an artists' process.

Morgan Thomas Shankweiler (b.1985) splits her studio time between the Philadelphia suburbs and the coast of Maine. She graduated with sociology and studio art majors from Williams College (Massachusetts) and studied Mughal miniature painting with Ajay Sharma in Jaipur, India. Her background in sociology informs her work, which is a study in time, memory, community, chance and the commonalities of human experience. Shankweiler's award-winning work has been featured in the 2020 online archive of AI39, online through MuralArts Philadelphia and ArtsBenicia, has been shown in galleries through the United States and she has completed residencies at SVA (NYC), DVAA (Philadelphia), Ellis-Beauregard Foundation (ME), and Penland School of Craft (NC) where she is leading a workshop this coming summer ('23). Her current practice focuses on the aleatoric creation of intricate rope and knot paintings and drawings through played games. These works examine relationships, social systems and community networks through metaphorical still-life and mathematical abstraction.

Eleanor Anderson (b. 1988) received a BA from Colorado College and an MFA in Fibers from Cranbrook Academy of Art ('22). Anderson works using a broad range of media including textiles, ceramics, prints and collage. A former Core Fellow at Penland School of Crafts, she has now completed residencies at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn, NY, The Women's Studio Workshop in Rosendale, NY, The Tides Institute, Eastport ME, Haystack Mountain School of Craft, Deer Isle, ME and Praxis Fiber Studio, Cleveland OH. She has taught workshops at Penland, Pocosin School of Crafts, as well as been a visiting professor at Colorado College, the Cleveland Institute of Art and College for Creative Studies in Detroit. In 2021 she was awarded the Outstanding Student Award from the Surface Design Association. She currently bases her studio in Hamtramck, Michigan.

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Parallel play is an exhibition by Eleanor Anderson and Morgan Thomas Shankweiler examining the relationships between work, play and social discourse. Through a balance of finished work and a series of interactive games, Parallel Play provides a non-threatening perspective through which to recognize the importance of playfulness within art-making, and life in general.

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A4 Arts Foundation is a laboratory for the arts in Southern Africa.

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By choosing to research my personal enjoyment in art making. I have completely thrust myself in a never-ending loop of self judgement and overthinking. Everytime I thought I made a breakthrough I'd end up back where I started not much later. I think this also has to do with the lack of structure and guidance this semester. that has not been provided enough but I also haven't sought after enough.

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the only aspects I have been productive in this semester is with starting the collective DAISIES and continuing the project "project potentie" in my hometown. I think this is because they are collaborative projects with more structure and a sense of urgency

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Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

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Visual artists face creative blocks from time to time. If you're one of them, you've probably been stuck in a creative rut before. Getting stuck with your art can be depressing if you don't have the necessary mindset and the appropriate strategies to deal with it. Understanding what artist block actually is and why you've hit it in the first place is, therefore, critical to breaking free and unlocking your creativity in art.

This post reveals everything you need to know about artist block, including:

The truth about artist block,

An overview of the 6 major causes of art block, and

A bundle of 15 time-tested strategies to get out of a creative drought.

I wish you an inspiring reading, and I look forward to hearing from you!

Are you currently feeling stuck with your art? Maybe you've been trapped in a creative rut for a long time and haven't found a way out? Or perhaps you've previously hit artist block and are terrified of a comeback? I'm with you. I've been there before.

In my mid-thirties I found myself in a deep creative slump. I ran out of ideas and felt paralysed and hopeless. My self-confidence had plummeted to rock bottom. The birth of my daughter drove me even further away from my studio. For a while, I gave up on being an artist. I stopped making art, but the desire to return to painting and drawing was still there.

It took years for me to find my way back to my art studio. I spent a lot of time and energy reconnecting with my creative Self, all while afraid that artist block will strike again. Finally, I made it! I overcame artist block and haven't hit it again ever since. Read my story here.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, "crisis" means "a time of great disagreement, confusion, or suffering". Without a doubt, there's a great deal of discomfort in it. A crisis, however, is more than just a loss of direction, values, or landmarks; it is more than just a "dark night of the soul."

Let's examine the Greek source of the English term "crisis". The noun κρίσις (decision) comes from the verb κρίνω, which means "to distinguish, choose, or decide". As a result, a crisis is a choosing moment, a turning point when there's a possibility of falling and getting lost in the abyss, but also of deciding to get out of the rut and unlock your creative potential.

In a crisis, there's an obvious sense of adventure and imminent danger, but there's also hope and a wealth of opportunities. I love the word "possibilities" because it connotes "chances" to me.

As far as visual artists are concerned, a crisis is not primarily a creative slump (although it feels pretty much like that). It is a trove of possibilities and chances to break free from old patterns and routines, unlearn the habitual ways of making art, and explore new areas of artistic creativity. To put it in the words of the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard:

"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility doesn't. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as a possibility!"

A crisis also encourages introspection, an inward turnthat harbours the potential for inner transformation and a mindset shift. A crisis can be a time of personal renewal and reinvention as an artist. You can take advantage of this opportunity. You've got the choice. It's up to you!

Make friends with your creative block. Accept that sense of possibility and the transforming power it carries. Acknowledge and let go of the discomfort and distress that it may cause you. The French novelist Gustave Flaubert believed that,

"If one always looked at the skies, one would end up with wings."

Look up and you'll see the light. Look within yourself and you'll find the source of light. You can rest convinced that there's no profound shift or major change without distress.

Reconnect with your creative Self and harness your creativity's transforming power to overcome artist block. Remember that creativity is a seed you're born with, which is always there. It never dies, and it never fades. It can lay dormant for a long time before resurfacing under more favourable conditions, but it can also thrive under duress. It is a well-known fact that creativity is amazingly resilient and robust!

What do you love? What resonates with you the most? That's your call and is all up to you. Allow it to guide you. Follow the thread, observe closely , and cultivate a steady artistic practice.

Creativity is on the vertical axis of your life, "stuckness" on the horizontal one. Raise your gaze and feel gratitude.

The 6 major causes of artist block (in blue) + 13 tried and tested strategies to overcome artist block (in red)

1. You're outcome-oriented: you create art with the end in mind.

Do you have a certain concept for how your artworks should look? Do you begin your art-making process with the end goal in mind? If you do, I must warn you that, sooner or later, you'll eventually hit artist block (again).

One thing certain about art is that it is unpredictable. Because art is, in its essence, a spontaneous act of creation, therefore understanding the true nature of art is key to overcoming artist block. Read more about the essence of art here.

If you're an outcome-oriented artist, find below 5 highly successful strategies for becominga process-oriented artist and find out here how to be a process-oriented artist.

Off the beaten track, unlearn your usual ways of making art. Explore new, alternative paths, and focus on the process rather than the outcome. As Edgar Degas once said:

"Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things".

Skip neither the inception nor the development phase, where you develop your concept and your creative vision. Ask yourself: How can I finish something that I haven't even begun? How can I progress from inception to completion if my ideas and artworks have not matured sufficiently?

Take one step at a time, from start to finish, and from there onwards. Find, transform, gift, then repeat. The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu was right when he said,

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

Turn off your mind. Experience the sensation of being in the present moment, beyond your limits, suspended in time. Plunge in, immerse yourself in what you're doing, and become one with it. Recognise and appreciate the properties of your tools and materials. Connect with them.

Follow your brush strokes on the canvas or panel mindfully, and allow your colors to unfold. Observe the interaction of the surface and the colours. Let yourself to be taken away, and delve deeper and deeper into your creative work until there's nothing more to add and nothing left to take away. This is what it means to be in a creative flow or in the flow of creativity.

"The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience." (Emily Dickinson)

Don't force your means of expression to fit into a pre-defined grid, and don't manipulate them in a precise direction or towards a clearly defined result. Let go of the urge to exert control over them and the outcome of your work.

Art has no predetermined path. The goal of art is to create, and creating entails transformation, play, enjoyment. Art is in the process; the outcome is a by-product.

I encourage you to engage in a conversation (or a dance, if you will) with your tools, colours, materials, and surfaces. Enjoy and play with them as they unfold right before your eyes. Go with the flow and maintain this creative state of mind as long as possible.

Look into Taoism and Zen Buddhism, for example. They brought me so much benefit, therefore, I'm sure they can help you, too. Try Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching (Penguin Classics 2003), and Wayne Dyer's take on it entitled Change your thoughts, change your life: living the wisdom of the Tao (Hay House 2010).

2. You're focused on drawing or painting exactly what you see, but you lack the appropriate technical skills.

If so, then let me first ask you a few questions.

Do you draw toimitate the visible world, to copy what you see as directly as possible, or do you draw to understand the world more profoundly?

Here are some useful tips for you that will help you express yourself more freely:

If you're focused on reproducing the form or on copying the physical appearance of things, then try the opposite:

In fact, every figurative artwork is abstract at the very start. Behind the most hyperrealist forms hide a few abstract dots, lines, and surfaces. Notice the marks and strokes that emerge on your paper. Observe them closely, and you'll see that they begin to move. They sometimes tell a story, other times not. Either way, there's life and action in them.

One thing is certain: there are manifold possibilities within a few marks. Follow your marks and let yourself be surprised!

Use tools you've never tried before, such as wooden sticks, wine corks, cotton pads. Experiment with new materials and surfaces, like plastic, handmade paper, or old newsprint. Unleash your imagination - it's limitless!

3. You're comparing yourself with others, or you're too concerned about the quality of your artworks.

In other words, you think you're not good enough. You think your skills are too poor to count for anything, your ideas mediocre, and your artworks average or plain bad. You're feeling insignificant. Ok, then let me ask you: what's your measure? You want to be better than whom? Or as good as who?

Comparison to others and competition are deceptive, self-defeating, and absurd. How do you want to compare your uniqueness to somebody else's unique nature?

This is where you belong. This is your call. Remember that life itself is ever-expanding and doesn't create half-measures. Life is infinite-generating infinite. You are life, you are an integral part of it; therefore, you are infinite, and so is your artistic creativity.

Embrace your uniqueness

Anything else can be learned and practiced.

Do you know the centuries-old Greek aphorism γνῶθι σεαυτόν ("know thyself")? It's said it was inscribed in the forecourt of the famous temple of Apollo at Delphi in Greece, and it has been interpreted in many ways so far. To me, it reads: "look deep inside yourself and find out who you truly are", that is, know yourself inside out and know the essence of yourself. Once you know it, express it in your art.

Find the true answer to the question "who am I?" (it goes without saying that you can use creative processes as means of self-investigation), and stay true to your Self. As a result, your art will be an authentic and unique expression of your heart, which you've been (blindly) searching for, for so long.

If you feel uninspired, then find out or remind yourself of what you truly love, and what you deeply resonate with. Reconnect with it. And read my blog article titled The truth about art inspiration + how to find inspiration and stay inspired .

Let me tell you what I do when I lack inspiration for my art: I lift up my gaze, and I go back to the ocean. Literally (whenever I can) or figuratively (most of the time).

This is a fact: I love the sky and the oceans - I wonder at their depths, vastness, and amazing force. Therefore, I love to paint clouds and water surfaces, waves, fishes, seashells, and stones on the bottom of the sea. Because I need to express my genuine fascination with that depth, infinite beauty, sense of freedom, and those limitless opportunities for exploration and discovery.

For instance, when I dive with my imagination into deep waters, I actually dive into my deepest Self, and I become one with the water. I'm the ocean, and the ocean is a mirror of myself. The ocean is nothing else but my own perception of it. The action of my hand on paper describes a never-ending flow, like a wave following another wave, and yet another wave, and so forth.

So, that's what I normally do when I feel uninspired. And when I feel inspired, I dive deeper an

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ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO ARTIST BLOCK | The Pointless Artist

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Everything you need to know about artist block, ho to overcome it, and how to unlock your artistic creativity.

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feeling like I'm not good enough

obstacles like closed workshop or not having the right materials

loneliness

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"Create consistently, practise daily, don’t break the creative flow unnecessarily. Show up regularly, set a schedule for your artistic work, and follow it. It takes self-discipline, I know, as I’ve been there before, and I’ve struggled to get myself started all over again. But when it begins to sprinkle and roar, you’ll feel increasingly empowered. From then on, you’ll see your creative confidence grow steadily"

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na de residentie dacht ik dat het zou helpen om te maken zonder doel voor ogen, dit zorgde ervoor dat ik het nut er niet van inzag het af te maken waar mijn zelfbeeld de dupe van werd

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WePresent | Collage artist Melville documents society’s underbelly

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Photographer and collage artist Melville documents society’s underbelly in the UK and beyond

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why did I start creating in the first place? can I go back to where I started?

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Everytime I caught myself feeling unhappy in my practise I'd feel like a failure. This started a cycle of overanalysing myself to try and figure out where I'm going wrong, starting over and trying something new.

This resulted in many unfinished projects of which none I am proud of

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it gets more and more difficult to push myself to start working again because I'm afraid of disappointing myself and with that I become frustrated because of the lack of productivity. then I beat myself up and start feeling worse.

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the more time passes the more pressure I feel to step up and do better, which actually makes it more difficult

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Planning voor het einde van het schooljaar

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I decided to make a series of self portraits to portray what I've been going through this past semester

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it's nice to use creativity to express my feelings in a way that I am comfortable with. it reminds me of the pictures I used to take when I was younger

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I planned another shoot with the DAISIES collective, it went really well! this is a playful way of creating I enjoy and don't feel guilty or useless about.