Start. Your. Art.

Art & Fear - Observations on the perils (and rewards) of Art Making. By David Bayles & Ted Orland.

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Art & Fear. Anyone who has attempted to create art to share with others knows these two words go together well. But despite the fear, art remains essential to create.

I'm going to run a quick series of highlights I've found in the book "Art & Fear" by David Boyle & Ted Orland. This book is not a "how to" on creating art, rather it is a sort of pep-talk for the artist not sure if he or she is willing to take the first steps toward creating.

I read this book when I decided to start taking my work seriously. There are some great points that put what we do into perspective. For example:

"Making art provides uncomfortably accurate feedback about the gap that inevitably exists between what you intend to do, and what you did."

I know for me, my art never ends up looking like how I planned for it to look.

In process, based on original idea.

Final product, after "listening" to what was right for this piece.

Something happens in the process where your work will start to inform you about the direction it needs to go. Learn to listen. And understand that your perspective of your work is always different than the viewers:

"To all viewers but yourself, what matters is the product: the finished artwork. To you, and you alone, what matters is the process: the experience of shaping that artwork. The viewers concerns are not your concerns. Their job is whatever it is: to be moved by art, to be entertained by it, to make a killing off it, whatever. Your job is to learn to work on your work."

When you understand your perspective and the viewer's perspective will always be different you gain a sense of freedom because you know your work can not be done to please someone else. This means your only other option is to serve the idea for its own sake. Doesn't that sound incredibly refreshing and liberating?

"The best you can do is make art you care about - and lots of it! The rest is largely a matter of perserverance."

So choose to persevere.

I hope this encourages you to get off the fence and create. Your ideas are worth exploring, even if only for yourself at first. But learn from each piece. Listen to how it communicates. Take risks. And grow.