August flew by faster than usual this year as I packed and moved my studio from a 300 sq. ft. space in downtown Portland to a 1,200 sq. ft. studio in Westbrook. I’ve also been prepping for my annual encaustic and yoga retreats in Kennebunkport, Maine this month. Knee deep in boxes at times, I kept myself grounded by taking one task at a time and making lists. I haven’t had much time for painting or writing, so will share a quote from the book I am currently reading on creativity and finding your artistic voice.
“Experiencing prolonged creative flow is an indicator that you’re developing your creative voice. It can take years to get to a place where you experience regular periods of creative flow and that’s because when you are in learning mode, you’re not yet fluent in your subject matter, style of medium...Learning implies a certain amount of struggle, frustration, trial, and error. But once you learn or master something, the struggle lessens and flow happens more frequently. Once you being to experience periods of creative flow, you’re likely not struggling as intensely with questions of what to create (subject matter, style) and how to create it (skill, control over your medium). To be clear, as an artist, you will always struggle. Bumping up against frustration, angst, monotony, and blocks are all part of the creative process. But once you have more experience, the challenging periods are not as difficult to move through as they can be in the beginning. The more “fluent” you become, the more you’ll be in flow.”
-Find Your Artistic Voice: The Essential Guide to Working Your Creative Magic, by Lisa Congdon