Sometimes I find that seeking perfection is the biggest hindrance to my making art.
I’ve been reading Julia Cameron’s THE SOUND OF PAPER and came across the phrase “I am willing to work badly.”
It reminded me of my sentence from yesterday's blog, of something I said when I first set foot on my path to become an artist. I’d said, “I don’t even care if I’m a particularly good artist anymore…” That acceptance, that release from attempting perfection, is what allowed me to simply DO.
If you’ve been reading my blogs, you know that this has been a year of incredible lack of focus on my part. Health issues have sucked up a lot of time and energy. (Not life-threatening, thanks to those who have inquired, just time-consuming and frustrating.) I’ve been able to identify my next new goals and I have great visions. But it’s been very hard to settle down to the day-to-day tasks that will make them happen.
What’s helped, especially with my wall hangings, is to not strive for perfection. In fact, I’ve found working in series—selecting one color for backgrounds, or a new shape, or a number of pieces working on the same key elements or theme—has worked well for me. VERY well.
I realized it’s because when I work on several pieces at once, I’m freed from having to make one PERFECT thing. I can explore options, try different approaches. Is rust red the best color? choice? Is teal blue better? Do both! And I find that both of them do indeed work.
There is no “best”. There was no great importance in choosing. There is just “beautiful” this way, and “beautiful” that way. Infinite variety. Infinite enjoyment.
Just for today…try not to be perfect. Or even good enough. Just do it, even if it’s done badly. It’s the doing that’s important.
Martha Stewart is on sabbatical, so give yourself a break, too.
