Have you ever set a goal then partway through it, you sense an urge to move the goal a little further out?
I am guilty of this, and equally guilty of not celebrating when I do hit a milestone.
Some people attribute burnout to endless striving and never celebrating accomplishments. This year I’ve been making an focused attempt at celebrating when I accomplish something versus just moving past it and on to the next thing. My aim is to avoid burnout, and enjoy life more.
Which leads me to…..!!!!!!
This season, I set out on my self-appointed summer residency, creating space to bring different creative concepts to life, without first asking “Will people like this? Could I sell this? Is this worth my time?”
Initially the idea was a creative project I could do during the summer, while my kids were at home that would be creatively stimulating, while building connection with the kids. I quickly realized these were not projects I could do with them, and that the whole concept would become something more meaningful and powerful to me than I initially planned.
As children making weird things doesn’t feel brave or embarrassing. It feels normal. As adults it often feels exposing to make something atypical to our normal style. I think this is why so many people want to make content but never start because showing up in a new way is just outside of our comfort zones.
Art making can be similar. It’s normal to be bad when you experiment with a new medium, but that doesn’t make trying and sharing that work any easier. It’s uncomfortable to try new things, especially when the results aren’t what you expect, or even bad. But, I think this is the only place real growth happens. It’s just outside of our comfort zones.
New ideas don’t come from repeating old habits and patterns. If you want different results, you have to try different things.
If you want to make new things, you have to try new ideas. It’s so simple, yet I forget all the time!
Through this project I realized that when I put the guardrails up too high on my creativity, everything suffers. While I think limits in art can be a useful tool, it’s a short term solution versus a long term strategy.
Going “no limits” this summer proved to me that my ideas are good, and worth pursuing. Creating nine projects (mostly) out of my typical work was challenging, stretching, but the word I keep returning to the most is fun. It felt freeing to make things with no expectation of outcome.
I didn’t know how bad I needed to just make some things!!!
Over the weekend I hosted a SIde Quest Summer viewing party to celebrate this fun, messy season of creating. I took……..ZERO photos, but the vibes were premium.
At the party friends asked “What’s next? Where are you going from here?” And the answer is, I don’t know.
I have a few things in the immediate short term, including a group show at the Waco Art Center, Being Held, opening September 3 (full post coming). Other than that, I am staying open to whatever happens.
I would love to partner with interior designers on bringing some of the concepts I explored to life. Perhaps making some larger scale pieces, or bring some of the pieces into production. I’ve even considered doing a full collection of light sculptures, and wondering what avenue to show those in or who could be a good partner for that project.
I don’t know where this will all lead, but I do know that the only person who will shut it down is me. And I have no plan to do that!
My plan is to make room to regularly make pieces outside my typical scope. I have a list of other projects I want to make, things that I didn’t get to this summer for one reason or another.
Thank you for coming along the ride for Side Quest Summer.
What started as an idea to keep me creative this summer turned into a monumental season for my creativity.
I’d love to see you to the opening of my group show, Being Held, with artists Naomi Canale and Spencer Welch at the Art Center Waco, September 3, 5-7pm. We’ll also be hosting an art talk in conjunction with Analog on September 11, at 7pm, also at the Art Center.
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