If you are a long-time follower, you know that I have run a coaching program called The Exploring Artist. It’s been on a break, but now I have something new for you. It has just taken some time to get developed.
You see, when we first start creating, it all feels like a really quick thing. One little drawing doesn’t take so much time, and if it doesn’t quite hit home, it’s always exciting to start a new one. Only a matter of practice, right?
Except it’s not.
The more you create, the wider the world of art becomes. It’s like you have first had a small puddle, then followed a stream, managed to find a river, drifted to a lake, and suddenly you are in the middle of a big ocean feeling smaller than ever.
There are so many flows, and to move forward, you should pick one, and preferably one that leads you where you want. At least that’s what business people say, they only take the safe routes and do fine!
Except it’s terribly difficult for artists.
When you are an artist, you are also an adventurer. The unseen is part of art. That’s why we often fail when we try to set a routine or stick with one boring thing.
For six years, I have created an annual vision that guides what I do. Because I come from the business world, I first started with the way businesses create their vision. Then I joined a business coaching program to make sure I was doing it in the right way. Slowly, year by year, I have moved away from how business visions are made.
When you create art, it’s not the same as working in a factory or selling pens. Art is personal, and it also has its own way.
When I call my inner artist to build an annual vision with me, I must be extremely cautious and gentle because she is not happy with the interruption. She would only like to create. “The next piece will be better,” she assures me, “I just need more time for creating.”
But we all know that time is limited and that quantity doesn’t always replace quality. It’s just this life that we have.
“Adult talk,” my inner artist sighs.
When I look at my inner artist, I see a child with all the wisdom built in her. There is no artistic vision if it lacks that spontaneous wisdom.
So, my annual challenge has been to give enough space to that child and that wisdom. Not to try to fit everything into one ship, but to see that there are several routes in the ocean of art, some being steps to the unknown. It’s exciting!
We are then no longer swimming alone in a big ocean, trying to find and follow another swimmer, feeling distracted by every wave and exhausted after staring one point at the horizon for too long.
My artistic vision is focused, and then it’s not. Focusing and narrowing down are not happy words for my inner artist, so I try not to use them. If you look at my classes, illustrations, designs, abstract art, there are several styles and techniques.
And then there’s YOU. An artist who likes to imagine, who gardens and crafts, who sees magic in life’s little things.
You who likes to play and draw in, for example, Animal Inkdom and Magical Inkdom.
You who yearns beauty and watercolors and, for example, Floral Fantasies.
There’s also you who wants to dive deeper and move forward, not only create but also vision. Maybe only you (or this side in you) reads this post from beginning to end?
For you, I have a new program called Artistic Vision!
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