As an artist so much is demanded of our creative genius. It
is constantly being tested by both ourselves and those who follow our work. We
demand a constant flow of new ideas and those ideas must be good.
It can be exhausting this constant push and pull of ideas. I
know you've been there. Started off the morning ready to take over the world.
So completely sure of your own amazing talent and so full of ideas that you can
barely fabricate them fast enough. You finish setting the last stone and you
look at the piece in awe, look what I created. I'm amazing, I'm brilliant, and
I’m untouchable. By that evening as you allow your eyes to drift slowly
downward, just before they start to close, the thought comes like a splinter
and antagonizes you until you find sleep useless and you wonder if it's
possible to creep back into the studio for another look. The alter ego arrives
with a force, what if it isn't that good, what if nobody likes it, what if everything
I fabricate is only mediocre at best and my belief that I could actually be
someone, that I was brilliant even is like the voice of my mother who thinks
just about everything I do is amazing and let's face it, we all know mothers
fib!
This is the path of an artist and we all find our own ways
to deal with it. I know that it is part in parcel and it is those who would
even dare to choose this path that harbor the harshest self-criticism.
So how do we continue to build the momentum we need everyday
to continue to create and to continue to come up with new ideas. This is
something that I have spent a lot of time thinking about because while some
navigate these waters calmly, others find it a great difficulty. For me this
has been a strength and one I would like to share.
The key is in evolution. I find the idea for the next piece
from the piece I am working on now. So often as I am fabricating I am thinking
about that next piece and what the current piece would look like if I were to
go in another direction. I try to keep my eyes open constantly to the next
possibility. Taking an idea and branching out within it's many parts to all the
different and unique options gives your initial spark of an idea a full and
complete journey allowing you to store your energy for the next great spark.
Complete the process within each cycle and you will find that not only does
your collection begin to build a variety of options within it but also so many
options for those looking at your work which is always a good thing.
I try to leave production work to the days where I really
have nothing new and my creative force is truly drained. This allows me to
continue to work and as I am working I can process to find the next great
beginning of another idea.
We as
artists have a natural inclination to want to crack open something new each day
and evolve at a frightening pace but when we allow ourselves to capture all of
the many elements within each new idea we offer ourselves a broader range and
usually the next great idea is hidden within the many pieces of the current
one.
What follows is a short series of pieces I fabricated in order as I allowed each idea to evolve:
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