The Myth of Perfection

Would you believe it if I told you that a big part of making art is your mindset? How many times have you heard someone tell you, I wish I could make art, but I can’t even draw a straight line. (I tell them, “That’s what rulers are for”). Besides using a ruler, perhaps no one has shown you how to use you whole arm as a hinge at the shoulder, and just pull in a straight line. Use the energy from your whole arm, not just a little twisty action from the wrist and fingers.

I’ll cut to the chase - NO ONE IS BORN KNOWING HOW TO MAKE ART. We all start at the beginning. One of my teachers at Lyme Academy of Fine Arts told us that making art is a learnable task just like math and science is. I was so relieved when she told us that. I felt that since I was good at math and science, that I would be able to do this thing. I finally was able to believe in my capacity to do this thing that I had wanted to do for so very long. We just have to maintain our interest during the learning phases. We also need to be open to the fact that as long as we are making art, we are ALWAYS in the learning stages. Many steps of that get easier, more comfortable, but if we maintain our natural curiosity, we’ll be life-long learners!

I always remind every one of my students of my class rules:

1- to never speak dismissively of your work, (or anyone else’s).

2. always look for the golden nuggets - they will be there. There may be parts of your work on a particular day that don’t bowl you over, but there will be good parts. Look for them, seek them out, and remember them. It will not be the last painting you ever do All learning is cumulative…..so the odds are statistically on your side that at some point you will be your own favorite artist….making pieces that you really enjoy looking at. Making a habit of finding those ‘gold nuggets’ - the parts you love, help you remember that you will get that and more the next time you return to draw or paint.

3. keep showing up consistently, even if it’s just to work on something small. Big progress can be made through small efforts done consistently.

4. learn and repeat the basics, until they feel like ‘breathing’, and they become natural to you.

5. realize that - just like your handwriting, you will find your own style (or perhaps it finds you)…but it shows up from doing step 4.

6. Always always, go back to step #1…and repeat this until you put that bad habit behind you.

7. Be willing to try new techniques, and know that you’ll have to go back and repeat step1 over and over again. Then step 2. You’ve got this. I believe in you! Now, you go and believe in yourself!!