I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty comfortable being a musician. And that’s good. I don’t avoid the topic – I tell people that’s what I am and it’s what I do. And I guess now I can say I’m a recording artist too*. But then I become less comfortable. I have a hard time seeing myself as an artist of any kind!
That word conjures up visions of “real” artists like DaVinci, Rafael, Van Dyke, Mondrian, or Basquiat (don’t like my list? I’d love to know how you like better! Tell me in the comments.). And then I become full of “can’t”. I can’t draw, I can’t paint. I can’t sketch. Heck I can’t even doodle (no seriously, check any of my margins. They are all starkly blank!).
And that pile of “can’t” starts to weigh me down. If I can’t be an artist how can I call myself one?
How you look at something defines what you’ll see. Reframing is simply actively deciding to look at something differently. For instance, if I need to find a particular word on a page of text, I turn the book upside-down. Because it is now harder to read, it becomes easier to search. By reframing the problem, I have changed my perspective and thereby made finding the answer just a little bit easier.
And so, to become comfortable calling myself and artist, I have to think about reframing how I see – myself, art, as well as the various media within which I can work. Sometimes we need to push ourselves and allow ourselves to grow as artists. And that push is not just at the harp – we need to push ourselves to do what we don’t think we can…in another medium. We have to give ourselves permission to work in multiple media and possibly we’ll see growth across media!
Remember when you started playing the harp? It certainly is a forgiving instrument, but even so, there were probably times when you were sure you’d never learn to (Gliss accurately? Play harmonics? Get faster?). You were a beginner. When you’re a beginner, everything is a challenge, but you’re excited and curious and while you hope it will come easily, you sort of expect to not do it right immediately. As adults we have a much more difficult time adapting this beginner mindset and we stop allowing ourselves to be beginners – we expect a perfect try straight from the box. Which is ridiculous – we’d never expect other people to do that well on the first try, but we maintain ridiculous expectations of ourselves!
Being creative away from the harp will allow you to have room to grow. Working in another medium also means learning new things, practicing different things that you need at the harp and having to think differently – even if only briefly. Being creative in any medium will help you be more confident in your capacity to be creative. And while the skills you master may (or may not) transfer – the freedom certainly will.
I have a number of creative, artistic, free friends who make amazing art. They create knitwear that actually looks like clothing, paint pictures that look like actual scenes, take breathtaking photographs, write captivating poetry. They freely make and create and generate. They are all harpers. They create all the time.
I have learned a lot from them. OK, I’m still learning! What have I learned?
- Be Creative. As the shoes say, just do it. Stop talking (inside your head) and make!
- Don’t judge! No really.
- Be Flexible. It didn’t turn out the way you imagined? Is it still kind of cool or do you need to learn some more and try again? Either way…ok.
- Try things. Just try it – you might like it! Don’t know how to draw? Ok, well, pick up your pen and do something and keep working on it. And try again. You’re learning! (A friend also exasperatedly reminds me to go find a YouTube video to learn how to do something – she’s right, there’s videos for just about everything).
- Identify your hang-ups. What’s stopping you? I usually know I can’t do what they’re doing so I’m tempted to not try, because it won’t be good enough (reference TWO and FOUR above). Be tough here – what is r-e-a-l-l-y stopping you? Name it!
- And defeat it! Now that you have named what your hang-ups are – defeat them. Look into their metaphorically beady little eyes and tell them to pound sand!
- Be Brave. What’s the worst that can happen? Your drawing of your dog looks like a firetruck? Your photo looks less like Loch Ness and more like Loch Mess? So what? It’s not like they’re going to take away your birthday! Sneer at your inner doubter and be brave!
Being creative away from the harp in another medium will allow you to have room to grow. Being creative in any medium will help you be more confident in your capacity to be creative. And while the skills may (or may not) transfer – the freedom certainly will.
I talk a big game. I am always starting to make art in other media and get caught up in “can’t”. So, let’s set ourselves a challenge. Within the next week, make some art. It doesn’t have to be large, complicated, complex, or tortured – it just has to be yours. Take a picture of it and post it in the comments and we’ll share them next week. I say this with trepidation – because, you know, I can’t draw. But I’ll be doing it too. A doodle? A sketch? Photo from your phone that you crafted? An ashtray (are these still made in art?) Whatever you want – make it, photograph it and post it and I’ll make a gallery of our work next week. We’ll all be in this together.
UPDATE: PLEASE EMAIL YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO JENIUSCREATIONSCHALLENGE@GMAIL.COM (YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO LOAD IT INTO THE COMMENTS!).
* why yes, my cd, This Moment, is available in ShamelessSelfPromotionLand.
