Comments on: Three Brave Questions to Ask Yourself about Your Art

By: Päivi

Päivi — Sun, 17 May 2026 10:57:15 +0000

In reply to Elizabeth Wakefield. Thanks for sharing, Elizabeth! When thinking about #3, look at your finished pieces more than focusing on the process.

By: Elizabeth Wakefield

Elizabeth Wakefield — Sat, 16 May 2026 06:05:46 +0000

Great questions yet difficult especially number 3
1. I tend to return to animals and plants. Nature I suppose
2. I rush. I need to slow down and let my pictures develop. I think I over plan in my head and then try to recreate that rather than letting it develop.
3. Maybe a bit of answer 2. I think I need to think a bit longer about question 3

By: Päivi

Päivi — Fri, 15 May 2026 19:03:13 +0000

In reply to Bobbie Margolis. Thank you, Bobbie!!

By: Päivi

Päivi — Fri, 15 May 2026 19:03:00 +0000

In reply to Dani Kirchner. Thanks so much for sharing, Dani! Very interesting answers. I would encourage you to dive the third question a bit deeper. I think you are answering to the question 2 there too. Instead of keeping your thoughts in the process, look at your art and think about the values and expression there - what do your finished pieces defy?

By: Bobbie Margolis

Bobbie Margolis — Thu, 14 May 2026 21:43:13 +0000

Thank you for your honesty! It is refreshing. It’s a good thing that you have such a love for the art that you do! I enjoy your newsleters.

By: Dani Kirchner

Dani Kirchner — Thu, 14 May 2026 21:24:57 +0000

These are brave questions, indeed. Thank you! I’ve never looked that deep into my art before. Answering your questions:
1. I keep coming back to animals, whether real or fantasy;
2. planning artwork destroys my creativity and I become lost, but when the creativity flows from me to the page, it somehow all comes together. Sort of like when you were in grade school and you were working on math problems. You had to “show” your work. I would just do it all in my head and just put the correct answer on the paper. It’s when I stopped and wrote out the steps that I faltered and got the answers wrong.
3. I lose my creativity when I have to constrain it within rules or have to cage it somehow. My creativity flits and flys on it’s own – sometimes at 3 a.m. or when riding to an appointment. Sometimes it’s in the middle of a conversation with someone. There is consistency, yes – art every day and learning techniques – but that little fairy cat is playing in my brain all the time. It’s why I always carry paper and pens with me.