Do you prefer to primarily work in one medium and technique that gives you an easily identifiable style but makes you feel like a one trick pony, or do you have a variety of interests that might make your style and voice a bit difficult to pin down, but you wonder if you should focus more? Or are you somewhere in between?
In this episode, I aim to help you idenfity how many grooves (aka focuses) your path can handle with an eye to getting past preconceived ideas you may have from what you see other people doing or advice you’ve read. Join Sage for some personal stories and not-so-usual advice on giving your art focus, or not.
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Sources mentioned:
Wendy Moore’s blog: http://afterthemonsoon.com/blog/
Sage’s poetry and photography Instagram page: www.instagram.com/sagebrayvaron/
International Polymer Clay Association membership (catch Sage’s talk about publishing in the world of art and crafts): https://www.theipca.org/membership-2016/join-the-ipca
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CONTACT SAGE
Send me your thoughts, question, queries or criticisms… email Sage via the contact form or send a voice mail (use the red button, bottom right) on the show website: http://thesagearts.com/contact/
And join Sage on social media:
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thesageartspodcast/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheSageArtsPodcast
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SUPPORT THIS PODCAST
Feel inclined to contribute to the financial support of this project? Buy me a coffee!
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thesagearts
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CREDITS:
Cover design by Sage; Illustration by Olga Kostenko
Music by Playsound
For Transcript click on the episode here: https://rss.com/podcasts/thesagearts/
Transcription (from original scripted text. Actual audio may vary slightly.)
Your Road, Your Groove
Hello all my brilliant creative friends, thank you for joining me today on the sage arts podcast I’m sage, your solo host today. We’ve had some rather intense and jam-packed episodes the last couple weeks so I thought it was time to go easy on you, and, to be honest, me so we’ll keep the conversation a little shorter today the subject today is no less important than any of our previous episodes. It can be a little hard to get a grasp on but let’s see if we can figure this out together, okay?
As usual, I’m in my little podcast studio, and one of these days, let’s say this weekend, I’ll post photos or reels of the room so you can better imagine the place you are joining me in. Mostly, I am surrounded by mid-value gray curtains and blue- gray walls which might not sound all that exciting but I do my photo editing in here and gray is the best color to have around the computer not just because color can get cast on the screen but also because a more colorful place could influence how bright or saturated I see the colors on the monitor. But behind and off to the side of me, I have a bookshelf full of art and craft books, and some odd things I gather on my hikes and travels, then some of my own polymer pieces and publications on the black sound proofing tiles directly behind me. But in the corner opposite me we’ve brought in a coy couch section, because that’s all that fits, not a whole couch and I have this foggy forest printed wall hanging behind it and that’s where my visitors sit.
So come on in and lounge here with me or settle into your studio space and create. If you listened to some of the earlier episodes, you know I suggested you commit this time you spend with me as all around creative time so if you can join me from your own studio, all the better. If you’ve been having a hard time getting yourself to the studio, well, maybe promising yourself some Sage Arts time to go along with it will do the trick. Worth a try.
I also thought I’d check in and see if you are doing the daily stories challenge. If you didn’t catch that in episode 6, the one on story , it was just to find some small story in your life every day and jot it down so you have a journal or sketchbook of ideas to pull from but mostly to get you noticing what small, meaningful things happen to us every day, to get you searching your daily life for the inspiration you need for your work. I was doing really good with that—I was writing poems each morning based on my chosen story from the day before so I got a poem in as well getting better at looking for these moments—and you can do a sketch or snap a photo or something as well or instead of the writing part… just whatever gets you more attentive to the little things in our day to day- but then I caught myself jumping out of bed every day last week because the AI episode was a really involved piece and took up all my time. But I’m trying to get back to that today. My story this morning was just about noticing that my poetry journal is falling apart and it made me kind of sad to know it’s almost time to retire it. We get really attached to our creative partners, be it our favorite tools, lamps, tables, chairs, sketchbooks or the mascot that has no functional purpose, but you keep near us in our studio space just for the joy of it. And I wanted to recognize that relationship and how it mirrors how we sometimes have to close the book on some friendships, usually temporarily, because of distance or lives going in different directions but it doesn’t mean we don’t cherish the time we spent with them any less.
So I just wanted to give you an example of a story I found in my daily life and encourage you to keep finding them in yours.
Speaking of cherishing… I just want to thank all of you who reached out to me this last week or so. I cherish each and every personal message. And it wasn’t just comments. I was getting links and articles and questions. I even got a shout out on Wendy Moore’s blog that’s afterthemonsoon.com. She’s very contemplative about her life as an artist and what she finds out in the world and has just some beautiful insights so check that out. Thanks for that Wendy.
If you wrote me and I didn’t get back to you with more than a thumbs up or what not, I apologize. I’ve been keeping super busy, but I do read everything that comes in and so appreciate your kind words and support.
So, keep those coming. You can send me a comment, or give back through a donation, or tell me what you want to hear that you’re not hearing yet, anything at all, go to www.thesagearts.com., Go to the contact page to reach out to me or, if you want to give back with a little financial support, stay on the home page, scroll half way down to find the Buy me a Coffee and PayPal donation buttons. That little bit of giving back is so so appreciated. I love to hear from you no matter what you have to say.
I have one more shout out but I saved it to start out today’s conversation because it was such a crazy, serendipitous coincidence.
Let’s start, as I always do, with questions to keep in mind so you are set to look for the answers to in this chat of ours. I have a two part question today – what determines the choices you make about your particular career path? And secondly, do you prefer to work in one heavily focused groove on this path, a groove that gives you an easily identifiable style, or do you like to make a bunch of grooves involving a variety of interests that might make your style and voice a bit difficult to pin down? Keep in mind that those questions are meant to help you focus on the material most relevant to you in this discussion but it doesn’t indicate what’s right or wrong because only you can determine that. I’ll get to the particulars of what I mean as we get going here.
So, yeah, I’m sitting here outlining this episode and I get a message on Facebook messenger from this longtime reader and fellow polymer artist, Belinda, and she is asking me the EXACT questions I’m pondering as I create this podcast you’re now listening to. Felt like a sign from the powers that be because I was also sitting here looking at these ideas thinking, does anyone want to actually hear about this? And mind you, I do that all the time. I often feel like I’m the only person who must find this stuff interesting. And it’s so weird when I’ve had evidence for years that people like to hear the little meanderings in my mind, not because they come from me but because I am simply reflecting ideas and emotions that so many of us are feeling.
What I think happens though is that many of us end up thinking we’re alone in our interests and experiences because there isn’t a lot of conversation about some of these topics or no one you know has ever brought it up. And many of us have this habit of comparing what we are doing with what other people are doing, or with what the dominant topics and articles are going on about and when they aren’t saying what we’re thinking, we may believe we’re rather alone, or at least a rarity. But the fact is, we’re not alone, not in the least. It just sounds that way from everything we have thrown at us.
Here’s the thing about most informational public media. It’s going to be geared to sell you something and the best way to get you to let go of your hard earned cash is to sell you something that seems like it can help you make you money or gain fame or create success or solve the problems that is keeping you from being successful in your career, relationships, or, again, finances. So most of the noise you hear is going to be how to make money or how to make the things happen that will make you successful so you get money or fame.
If you’re questions aren’t specifically about making money or getting recognition or gaining the version of success they’re trying to sell you, that’s fine, great even. It’s likely that you’re at a point in your life and creative journey where you’re trying to find the creative path that makes the most sense for you, that fulfills your creative spirit while connecting you to the world in whatever degree you need—that could be recognition, camaraderie, making others happy through your creations, or just feeling like you’re part of something bigger than just yourself. Maybe you feel lost right now. You may not have found the right medium, form, or genre of work (or have found too many you want to play with!)… or haven’t realized there is no one niche for you.
Finding the truth of what you need to be doing, the path you need to be following and the right way for you to travel on it isn’t easy and isn’t usually obvious. A lot has to come together to make a good match in art, kind of like good matches in relationships. But if you keep mucking around and don’t give up – you’ll find what you need. It does however, start with realizing that what you need may not look anything like what other artists seem to be after.
For nearly a decade, I published books and magazines on polymer art. It was never easy, it wasn’t even particularly profitable, but I loved it with my whole soul and heart. It felt right. It felt like home. At the time.
When I had to shut it down due to overwork injuries and the skyrocketing cost of the various aspects of production, it pushed me to see that the last couple years might have been more out of inertia than passion. I still loved putting the magazine together as it was an avenue to teach and connect to an artistic community but publishing had taken me completely away from my own creative endeavors and for a while that was okay, but towards the end, I realized I was losing touch with a part of me that had been the core of who I am all my life. I had to get back to creating, to getting lost in a process, to being childishly curious and endlessly fascinated. I had to get back to my own creative work.
So, I started working on a novel which I had wanted to do for a while and then six months into that I started on the second one. I got back to writing poetry every morning and I discovered a new form of photography, ICM, that I became enthralled with and still am. It seemed like it would be a dream come true to be able to create the things I wanted to create and not have my day to day be wound up in marketing, project management and the minutiae of running a business. But it wasn’t that wonderful. I became rather depressed actually.
It’s not always easy to pinpoint what is missing in your life when you find yourself feeling unsettled but let me just day, don’t’ accept it as is. I spent a lot of time talking to my better half, journaling, and just staring out windows trying to figure it out. And road trips. Nothing like miles and miles of road to get your brain really working on a problems. And what I concluded was that I really missed being part of something that was bigger than myself, that gave back to the world, that allowed me to share what I know, and I’ve learned, and see other people grow from it. I had started another blog but there just isn’t a lot of interaction on blogs online anymore. So, somewhere along the way I started thinking about podcasting. I was driving cross country a lot because of family stuff and listened to a ton and realize I wanted that. I wanted to reach out of people’s phones and computers and shake them up some. And, as you know, I did it. I started a podcast. Almost immediately, my creative time dwindled as I threw myself into this. And I love this, so so much but I began to wonder if I would be able to become a successful author or photographer or do anything with little pieces I was crafting.
I often say I am a jack of all trades and a master of none. And that has bothered me for a long time. My husband has a singular passion for animation and cartoons that is astoundingly focused and unerringly passionate. We meet in high school and the passion was the same back then. That’s pretty rare though but the slice of what we see of well-known artists—because realize you don’t see everything they do including the failed work and the many other things they explore—that picture we have of what these amazing artists do would make you think you need to have a singular focus but I’m telling you, that’s kind of unwavering focus isn’t the norm. Many of us won’t find that and that’s ok. I don’t have that. I create though, nonstop, no question. But what is my artistic calling? Why can’t I settle on one thing, one material, one market, one anything, at least as a predominant thing to be known for.
Well, my recent self-evaluations uncovered an interesting fact for me. You know what I’m known for? This. Teaching, sharing, trying to inspire, helping others find and refine what they need to do creatively. Wanting mostly to teach and coach doesn’t take away from my being a creative. I will always make things, every day, all the time but sometimes it will be a podcast, sometimes a mosaic table for the porch, sometimes I’ll build shelving or convert a minivan into a camper van. Somedays I’ll crochet a hat and others I will sketch and paint. And I’ll keep returning to my camera and my clay like a favorite sweater I can’t go long without cozying up to. What this realization revealed though, was that I have all this outside pressure to present myself as some specific type of artist because if I’m not a particular artist with a recognizable style and a CV the length of my arm, what right do I have to be telling all of you what to do with your creative lives?
But that’s the funny thing. I have been a creative in the best way possible all my life. By doing what I want to do when it makes sense to me. And that was the real epiphany. That I’ve been measuring my life against the expectation and the success of others. I’ve wondered when I’m going to buckle down and make a name for myself in some particular artistic niche. But what it comes down to is, that’s not me. I don’t sit still and picking one niche is not going to hold me for long. And you know, that’s ok. What I do makes me happy, it makes plenty of other people happy. I manage to keep the lights on and food on the table and nobody around me wants for things I failed to provide. So, why should I become this one track type artist?
Yes, success in certain areas is easier when you do that. Galleries can pinpoint your work and style and make it easier for them to sell your work. Wholesalers can feel confident their getting into business with someone who will provide steady, dependable and somewhat predictable art they can sell to their clients. You can build a pretty steady and loyal customer base who will follow you around and consistently buy from you because they like that singular type of thing you do. But if these kinds of sales aren’t what you are in this for, then why restrict yourself?
And that was the core of what Belinda asked. She doesn’t feel she has a recognizable style and was concerned about her potential success as an artist if she didn’t develop one because she doesn’t see herself finding just one groove in the road to follow. She loves to explore and create according to her mood. Me too. And why not?
Yes, it seems we are both in a position to not have to streamline what we do in order to sell. But even if you have to be consistent because making money is a necessary or desired part of your picture of success, that doesn’t keep you from doing other work, or create other grooves of your creative life to dwell in and get joy from. Gwen Pina who made primarily southwest style gift shop polymer figurines, also make crazy mixed media sculptures and lamps, not with an eye to creating a new market but because it made her happy. And she had, at the time I interviewed her in 2011, over 600 retail accounts she created for and shipped to every year. She had a very particular niche and a very recognizable style that allowed her to grow and keep a large database of shops to sell to. But that wasn’t all she did. She created her own couple of artistic grooves, her own version of creative success that fulfilled her as well as keeping her and her kids taken care of.
So, don’t try to be something because you keep hearing that’s what you should do. You make your own road, and on that road, you develop your own groove or grooves according to what you need and what you want to accomplish
Some people might think that spreading yourself out among numerous interests might make it hard or frustrating to achieve much of anything or just feel accomplished. I don’t think so. Now that I am teaching more through the process of producing this podcast, my creative motivation has skyrocketed. I’m still writing the novels, I’ve picked up my polymer clay again, I’ve even pulled out tile and stone and I’m working on a mosaic. I’m out with my camera every day even if just for a few minutes and most days I write and/or edit a poem and I’m getting the photos and poetry, usually together, out on social media and connecting with other great photographers and poets that way.
So, am I crazy for doing so much? Maybe a little. My case may be a bit extreme, But I’m happy and I know I’m happy because my muse is just humming along and is excited about all of it. So, there are a lot of grooves in my road to follow but I’m really enjoying the journey as is.
For those of you who struggle with narrowing down your creative identity to one primary medium or who jump from project to project, I want to tell you, I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. if your inclination is to try multiple different mediums in multiple different styles and that’s what you are drawn to, don’t try to push yourself into a more restrictive box. It’s fine. There is nothing wrong with not being known for a particular thing or maybe ever getting in a gallery or being published. Those things have purposes that support certain types of artists who have certain types of goals. You get into galleries to reach the kind of market that buys at galleries. You publish because you want to share what you’ve learned, or teach others so they can enjoy the medium that you love. You get into wholesale production because you’ve found a style and type of art that you will happily reproduce 100 times over or 500 times or 1000 times and not feel like you’re missing out.
If these reasons, or others because the reasons for doing these things are a lot more varied than what I just said, if these don’t help you create your version of success, then don’t feel like you need to do the things that artists who want that, do, in order to fulfill their version of success.
Don’t feel like you need to do more or you need to always be gaining more recognition, or getting into better shows. Don’t let other people’s ideas of what a successful art career means determine your path. The only success that counts, in my book at least and I think for many of us, is a success that finds you happy, content, constantly curious, and regularly working at the studio table. If that thing is you making whatever your fingers want to bring to life on the weekends and your lucky family members get those treasures and you don’t feel the need to strive for more, I can’t think of a more wonderful creative life. If you want to make a career out of it and want to get in the big shows and win awards, that’s wonderful as well, if it makes you happy and keeps you creating in a way that feeds your soul and keeps your muse content.
For me, right now, I want to make things just to make things. I love the process of creativity, I love getting into the zone, I love that welling of emotion as the thing I create comes into being into being so much so that it takes on its own life. I’m not saying I don’t feel the pressure to become better, to get bigger recognition for my creative works, but to be honest with myself the only reason I would want the recognition is for the affirmation that what I do is worthwhile when I know, in reality, that the only judgment of whether I’m doing something worthwhile comes from within me.
So if you’ve been struggling with figuring out what you want to do, what direction you want to be taking, or what new direction you might take on because what you’ve been doing is feeling stilted, try to make the focus of your search be the thing that makes sense to you and for you and your life. I was a working artist for about three years, and I can’t say I don’t miss going to the shows, the camaraderie of setting up the booth and chatting with your neighboring creatives—just love that energy. I do also miss seeing the smiles and satisfaction of people purchasing my pieces and that contented exhaustion at the end of a show from all the talking and running about and the compliments from complete strangers. But, I do not miss the insecurity of the money, the hard work of putting everything together, and the long lonely days creating knowing no one, in those moments, cared about what I was doing besides me.
But those years as a working artist, were right for me, at the time. And that’s the other thing to keep in mind. What is right for you now may not be right for you in the future. That’s okay. Just check in with yourself on a regular basis.
When you sit down to create, ask yourself what is on your mind. Is it “what will sell?” or “how can I do cool things like I’m seeing others do online?” and you’re feeling stressed or anxious. Or are the questions in your mind excited chitterings of curiosity or almost mindless meanderings of “What will happen if I try this or do that?” I think most of us have all these voices in your head at one time or another but if it’s all the first set where worrying is the theme and none of the second where curiosity rules, you’re not going to be able to hear your artistic voice very well, or see the shining light of your imagination illuminating the path it really wants to take.
So give yourself permission to wander and explore, or on the other hand, explore for weeks or years some singular technique or style. I can’t tell you how many artists, very successful artists, have told me they worry they are a one trick pony. What’s wrong with one glorious, amazing trick if it keeps you fascinated and joyful in your work? And then there are others, like Belinda and myself, who become concerned that we don’t have enough focus. Enough focus for what? I don’t have good focus in my art, and I’ve concluded that, right now, I like it that way. My brand of weird is not liking things to stay the same. I don’t’ like routines and I kind of like when I get hurdles thrown in my way so I have to figure out a new path for whatever. So it makes sense that I don’t have one medium or style that I’m running with.
There is one caveat I should mention about doing a lot of different things. You want to be careful that you’re not jumping around out of fear, fear of realizing something isn’t working and feeling like a failure, Which you can avoid if you never complete something or spend enough time with it to find out, but you’re also putting off the possibility of success. The fear is of failure can be stronger then the desire to succeed, So I’d suggest, that if you’re exploring something new, stick with it thing long enough to find success in it or realize it’s not for you. Sticking with one thing can be a great way to insure you have direction when you sit down to work so consider pushing yourself to stick with something until you know it’s for you or not, if you feel directionless in your work. You could be prolonging that directionlessness by jumping around too much. But on the other hand, jumping around is needed to search out that thing that makes your muse sing so don’t hesitate to try new things if it makes your muse curious and drives you to explore it, not just copy what’s been done, not just from a desire to create the same kind of cool things another artist is making.
So, when it comes to a recognizable style, you can ask yourself, what do I want to accomplish and does having an easily recognizable style or consistent type of work serve that or not? Or you can ask yourself, what kind of creating makes me happiest? Then build your creative hearth and haven around that happiness, rather than warp it to fit what you think you should be doing.
To be an artist, you only have to have a sense of curiosity and a drive to create. What you produce, how you do it, how much you create, or what you do with the work should not be measured against the work and ways of others or determined by the way anyone else does it. You do you, as much as is possible as you work to keep balance in your life.
Now, I know this is just a bunch of words and metaphors and that things are rarely so simple as all that. There are more considerations than just one’s authenticity in their work, but there is rarely a reason that creating according to what makes you happiest can’t be a primary consideration. Art made from joy and passion reads as passionate. When someone sees an amazing piece of art and wonders just how they do it, well, I can tell you that the hard to pin down difference between their work and the people that come to copy them is the passion, born of their exploration, their curiosity, their love for the concepts they’re exploring, for the process they go through, and/or of putting their inner thoughts out into the world. I think feeding that passion and having it emerge in your art will serve every artist, no matter what your version of success is.
So if you’re feeling like you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing, if you’re not focused or feel too focused, be kind to yourself and start by asking what you want to be accomplishing with your art. And don’t forget to ask why you want that. If you can’t find a true inner purpose or a concrete reason specific to your life and circumstances, then maybe you’re letting other people’s idea of success cloud your picture of what you need and want your success to be.
If you have a really hard time defining what’s most important to you in terms of your success and doing your art, try this.
Make a list of all the reasons you create, from feeding a creative compulsion, to the ego boosts when shared, to having to make money, to getting into flow, etc. Trying making a list of at least 10 things and maybe ask someone close to you to identify why they think you create. Just try to make it exhaustive so you don’t miss anything.
Then take the first thing on the list and compare it to the next thing on that list and ask which of the two you would choose if you could only have one. Whichever one wins out, compare that to the next thing on the list and ask the same question. Do this until you’ve got a winner from the last comparison and, guess what …that winner is going to be the most important thing to you on that list. And don’t be surprised if it’s something you wholly didn’t expect. And don’t judge it either. If it turns out to be money, ok, great, now you know. If it’s ego, hey, it’s hard to admit sometimes but that could also be a wakeup call to pay more attention to how much you’re influenced by outside sources and maybe that need is getting in the way of doing the really original work you’ve been craving. Knowing is a great starting point for analyzing what you are doing and why.
If you want to see what is second and third or what order the whole list should be in, remove the winner from the list and do it again, compare all the way down until you have the second most important thing. If you keep doing this, you can move your winners from each round to a second list number 1 to whatever showing the order of the importance of these things.
This is something I do with my coaching clients when they’re feeling lost. The list you end up with can be a huge revelation. If you do this and you’re super surprised by the results, tell me about it.
You can send those thoughts as well as criticism, or questions to me by reaching out on the website thesagearts.com, go to the contact page and use the email form or even leave a voice message using the red button you’ll find there.
And as mentioned at the beginning, if you are enjoying these episodes and find value in what I’m doing here, consider giving back. You can do that by going to theSagearts.com website where halfway down the home page, you’ll find the Buy me a Coffee and PayPal donation buttons.
You can also follow the podcast on social media on facebook.com or Instagram.com both under the sage arts podcast. And if you want to help spread the word, hit that share button or you’re welcome to grab the images I post and repost them. Also, if you haven’t yet, do hit the follow button on your podcast player so you don’t miss out when an episode goes live although know it will come out by the end of the day here on the US west coast on Fridays, ready for a weekend perusal.
Also, quick note, for my polymer peeps, I’ll be presenting a talk on publishing in the world of art and craft for the International polymer clay association this next Sunday, the 26th of February. You do have to be a member to attend but it’s just $35 a year for a ton of benefits. You can look into that member ship at www.theipca.org . Once a member, look for the emails with the zoom link and join me on the 26th.
Well, I’ll leave you with those thoughts for today. I hope you feel encouraged or validated in your artistic choices or have a few more tools to explore what path you want to follow and what grooves you want to put in that road.
In the meantime, as always, I encourage you to feed your muse, stay true to yourself and your weirdness, and we’ll see you next time on The Sage Arts Podcast.
