5 reasons to make art you hate

I have a sort of “workout” I do. I get some tempera paints and big cheap paper set up, put on some music and do some movement, and then I paint intuitively. 

Actually, I really hate it. It is not artistic bliss. I usually hate the paintings that result from the process, I don’t really like painting with tempera paints, and I don’t like painting large.  

Painting that way pisses me off. But here are five reasons why I do it anyway. 

It forces a conversation with my inner critic.

And by conversation, I mean a dysfunctional one in which I ignore what the Critic is saying, or agree with it pathetically, or argue with it and feel angry and defensive. It’s a confrontation that allows me to externalize the voice and be more objective about what it is saying.

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Little Nests

I saw this comic the other day, and loved it. I often confuse my introversion for depression. I have not set up my life to support my introversion. I am a teacher, a parent and I have an extrovert partner.   When I get overwhelmed and need to recharge, I often fail to recognize my need for alone time, and […]

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Beyond the vision board

There are things that I really like and appreciate about collage, but its never been my favorite medium. I like it because it allows anyone to be creative. What I dislike is that the images in most magazines do not reflect my values. Everyone is perfect and skinny, organized, clean and shiny. I’m just not like that, and don’t really want to be.

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Vulnerability and trauma

Today was my third session on my own Body Love journey. It started out as an interest in how I can use creativity to change my health habits. Almost immediately it went much deeper than that, to a traumatizing experience from childhood.  Looking back on my artistic development, so much of my art has been about this one event.  

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Your inner critic can be an ally

While I still struggle with my inner critic, it is not nearly as difficult a relationship as it once was. In fact, I can hardly remember what it was like when I couldn’t get past it and stayed stuck and paralyzed.

When you are a beginning artist (or when you majored in art and then stopped creating for a really long period of time) it can be so hard to deal with the inner critic. The shame about what we create, what others will think, the disconnect between intention and result…it is overwhelming. 

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Cracking open a new sketchbook

When I did my masters research, I kept a visual journal, and I really gained a lot from the arts-based research I did in terms of personal empowerment and transformation.  I decided to apply the same process, mixing expressive arts with studio art practices to heal my attitude towards self care, as I described in my last post. And I […]

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Body neglect and rebellion

I have an online expressive arts workshop called Body Love.  When I created it, I was working out 3 times a week. My diet wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t the worst either.  Then I quit.  My excuse was grad school and returning to work after summer break, and my son transitioning to middle school. “Too much!!!!” I screamed. “I’ll […]

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Experimenting and maybe looking ridiculous

So, this Saturday is the first ever online expressive arts gathering. I’m excited, and if you want to join us, it is free. December 7th, 2013 10-11:30 PST. We will have a follow up meeting the following Saturday to share and celebrate each other. If you can’t make the first meeting, I will be posting a link to the prompts, […]

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A love letter to artmaking

My Dearest, I look now, over at your table, that beautiful old oak table, with the carved legs, and I know you are being so tolerant, your space covered with scraps, crumbs, and frustrated piles of broken frames and dusty matt boards. I know you understand. You always come last. I don’t know why you put up with it. Because […]

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