Whew! So as you all probably already know, I spent a huge chunk of the winter building a brand new website for Edison Rex. It was a challenge--but I love challenges and I'm so happy with how it turned out. While I was hyper-focused on doing all that, though, my ideas and sketches by necessity gathered a little bit of dust. Since the site launch I've been thrilled to get back in the studio, but it also feels...a little strange!
In my recent interview with Megan of Studio M.M.E., I mentioned that my favorite parts of the art making process art the beginning and the end, because they're the easiest: the initial inspiration and the finished product. The middle part can just get messy. While I was doing techical-website-messy, I forgot all about art-messy. I love making art but it can be uncomfortable at times!
I'm sure I'm not alone in that experience, but I'd never really stopped to notice it much before. A hiatus made it clear. Now that my focus is on studio time again I've been giving this creative discomfort some thought. Where does it come from? Well, I think that the challenge of making--art, novels, all sorts of things--reflects a lot of what can be challenging about life.
In that first moment of making a great sketch, everything seems possible. And easy. But getting down to business, I'm confronted with things like uncertainty--where was I really going with this? What haven't I figured out yet? What don't I know? And often I find myself standing on the border where my current capabilities meet my potential growth. Can I do this--or learn how to do it? There's a matter of honesty, too--asking myself if this is really my best effort, or if I need to go in for another revision.
For me, drawing these parallels has allowed that discomfort to melt away and be replaced with some acceptance of the messy. I'm a pretty goal-oriented person so seeing the value of the process is kind of freeing. If making and doing something I love reflects back to me other things in life I need to learn, well, how awesome is that?
So, Rexlets, I know many of you are busy in your own studios and work spaces but I'd LOVE for you to share your own experiences in the comments section below. What challenges does the creative process bring up for you?