Friday, August 31, 2012

The Circus, Creative Blocks, and Tracking Wild Animals

Margo Always Wanted to Join the Circus
encaustic and paper on birch 16x16
not quite done yet..
I was chatting with a friend of mine.  I mentioned that I'm feeling blocked and creativity just really isn't flowing like it was a few months ago.  I feel like things have gone quiet and the creative juices are just not flowing.. trickle, yes - but not flowing.  Her read on it was maybe I was making it into something that shouldn't be - that I've gone down the wrong road and all is quiet so that I will reevaluate.   This got me thinking..

What if, in fact, a creative block is a very good thing? What if a creative block is a message from the Universe that this path is no longer the one for me?  Somewhere I've made a wrong turn and ended up at a spot where I don't need to be.  Or, maybe I've misread the signs and I'm headed a direction that is just OK... but not really where I need to go.  Therefore the further I go along this thread, the farther away I get.. the more the distance, the greater the feeling of losing my way.  The more I feel that I have lost my way, the harder it is to get on track, to show up, to keep going..  Perhaps there is a point to recognize this path no longer serves me.   Its frustrating when it happens because its so easy to look at it in a negative way. - I can't (whatever) - paint, draw, write - I'm at a lack of creative ideas... all is quiet and I'm stuck, I can't seem to produce - whatever it is.. usually the vibe is negative. 

I tend to take the stance that I am going to get beyond this block and its my nature to keep running up against it thinking I will break my way through.  What if instead of trying to get over, under, around the block that has been set before me that i actually take a step back - or perhaps what if at this point i turn back and retrace my steps to the point where i last felt success in my work.  When I say success I mean, joy and happiness - that i felt like it was the be all end all and i was definately doing the right thing, creating from my heart with bliss.  A point at which ideas were more than I could keep up with... all was well.  What if i go back to that spot and take a look - carefully at all the signs that are left there.  How did I miss the trail?  It happens, it happens to the best wildlife trackers in the world.  The subtley of the way the paw print reads in the sand can be misread and send a tracker in a direction that is not correct and the trail runs cold.  You know what they do?  They go back to the last good footprint and reevaluate.  Did the tracker see the way the print was slightly more indented on one side, showing a change in direction?  Only the keenest eyes can see these things... I'm still learning, I"m not an expert, therefore I do misread the tracks.  Its OK, its not detremental unless it brings me to a halt.  There is nothing wrong with side roads.  Sometimes we find the best things when we make a wrong turn.  But, if the trail is running cold... maybe its best to turn back to the point at which things were clear and redirect from there.

UpDate::  The golf shoe painting that I did for the raffle... One of my favorite golfing friends was the lucky raffle winner - YAY!  Nice to know they went to a good and loving home :)

It's party time!!

30 comments:

  1. Wowness..I am totally in love with this piece..outstanding beauty!! powerful..this is deeply gorgeous and full of poetry! Wonderful work!! And yay..I agree..in my own experience I don't believe there are any blocks truly( even though they seem real) ...they are truly gifts..and just other spaces and doorways to explore..I have worked with creatives in this way..and once they understand it more..they realize their own insights can guide them to seeing a block in a new way! Thanks for sharing your insights.
    Victori

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  2. Powerful post- and a new way to look at creative blocks- one I hadn't thought about before but you make good points. Love the encaustic work here- I love circuses and all the adventure they represent to me!

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  3. Very interesting!!! Your horse is beautiful and makes a powerful presentation. Thanks for sharing. Happy PPF

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  4. Your circus painting is gorgeous. You've posed some interesting thoughts today for us to ponder. I find if I come to a block in one area, if I just lay off doing much art, I may go down an entirely different path when I take up art again.

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  5. I am so drawn to art with a circus theme. (No idea why) This is gorgeous! The horse is especially amazing, love the entire piece.

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  6. An interesting post with lots to think about. Only you will really know what to do, but sometimes I know I find just doing something totally different for a while and forgetting all about the usual creativity may fix things. Go and watch movies, shop, visit the sea or some local nature. Or even, clean the house!!!

    You'll instinctively know what is right for you. Just listen to your heart.

    Good luck!

    (By the way - this is an AMAZING piece of work. I LOVE IT!!)

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  7. This is a beautiful encaustic, I hope you get your creative juices flowing again soon! I have to be relaxed and relatively stress free when I paint, if something's bothering me or I am busy, forget it.

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  8. wow your painting is so beautiful, everything is drawn and painted to perfection. Happy PPF, Annette x

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  9. Excellent painting ~ awesome ~ and yes 'rest' are part of Musical composition ~ and so in life, painting and more ~ enjoy your respite ~ and the latest painting above ~ What a gift! ~ (A Creative Harbor)

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  10. Love this painting! The composition has lots of rhythm and movement just like an actual circus! Lovely!
    ♥♥♥
    Happy PPF!!
    Mary
    Mixed-Media Map Art

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  11. Hope your muse comes back quickly. :) I actually think a creative block is a sign to rest or do something different. :) Love this horse!

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  13. What a thought-provoking post. Gave me lots to think about. Happy PPF.

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  14. Sounds to me like you're on to something. Let us know if this theory pans out for you - although I absolutely adore the circus painting you're working on, so it's hard to believe you're having a creativity block!

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    1. This painting is actually the result of back tracking to where I was really happy with what I was doing. So... its proof I guess that the theory works :)

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  15. LOve the circus piece. What you wrote about sometimes having to step back to be able to go forward again, is so tight. For every door that closes another one opens.
    Have a great weekend! Valerie

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  16. I love your encaustic piece. I think blocks are for getting back on track to what we are really meant to do. I see it as a good thing.

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  17. I am a big fan of the back track... why do we always have to be moving forward??? I think if you are a bit blocked you are in the wrong direction, so heading back is the perfect solution... I sometimes think we are in such a rush to try something new and different, and to improve and change that we lose track of where we are supposed to be... I try to stick where am for as long as I am happy with it ... things always sort... and if this painting is a sign you are back on track then I am very happy ....can't wait to see more like this...
    T xx

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  18. post and painting have many layers! wow, powerful.
    dana

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  19. Wonderful painting, it seems we are on opposite ends of the creativity cycle though, your backtracking sounds like a good plan!

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  20. Wonderful WIP, great wild and unpredictable mood!

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  21. This work is amazing. I love it, the horse is spectacular. I find my own creativity is cyclical, I go through phases where I am overwhelmed with ideas and different things I want to do, and then other times where I feel like I am wading through a stagnant swamp. Still other times I feel positively stuck. Knowing it is cyclical helps me know that this will pass. And then I do something else, to refill the well, I see it as a time for reflection and personal development.

    If I still feel stuck and I have meandered into pointless navel gazing I open my journal, pick a paint colour and paint the gunk out, just to move on, one colour at a time. One spread at a time, until I feel the mud begin to ease up a bit. Sometimes the ugly pages turn into something very not ugly and spark up new ideas to chase after.

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  22. I bet most of us has hit this "stuck" place more than once. I have changed my medium of making art/being creative several times, I go back and forward to old and new forms, there are so many I think I will always be creative in some form, but may not always be the same form. As long as I find something, someway to get that feeling of passion and satisfaction I am happy.
    Good luck with finding your satisfaction.

    The encaustic piece above here is very interesting with many ways of looking at it, much to see. You say I believe that it is a work in progress. I look forward to seeing where it takes you and you it.

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  23. I found myself in the same situation, where the ideas that were thick and fast a few weeks before were now a slow (very slow!) trickle. But instead of worrying about being blocked, and how long the blog would last, I took a step back, spent a few days away from my studio, and tried not to think to hard about the lack of ideas.

    In the end, it was the best thing for me, cause I ended up with some brilliant ideas, some reworked older ideas, while doing 'normal' stuff (like showering or washing up) and the block was over. I am sure that you will figure out which direction you are meant to go.

    Your painting is amazing btw! I can't wait to see where it finishes up.
    Cheers,
    Kirstin

    (p.s. thanks for stopping by and leaving such a lovely comment x)

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  24. Lovely painting. I like how she comes peeping out behind the horse. Taking a step back is a great idea. You'll eventually end up where you need to be.

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  25. What a beautiful, intriguing painting. It's the sort of piece that could take on an entirely different meaning depending on the viewer's mood.

    I really like your analysis of creative blocks. It's so easy to become fixated on the block, and not see what it's trying to teach us.

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  26. I love that painting, the horse is just so beautiful... It was interesting to read your thoughts on creative blocks. Thank you for giving me pause for thought.

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  27. La pintura es fantástica, tiene mucha fuerza interior. Los bloqueos son normales, no dejes que te entristezcan. Al final siempre surge alguna salida que tal vez pueda ser el mismo camino que vienes haciendo , solo que si hace tiempo que lo sigues te puede parecer rutinario pero no por ello menos hermoso o tal vez aparezca algo nuevo que acabarás descubriendo con toda seguridad.

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  28. This is really fun and interesting!

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