Question of the Month--Stumbling Blocks?

Our question for the month is "What is your greatest stumbling block in making art?"

Lorraine:

Mine is thinking that I need a big chunk of time in order to make art. So if I look at my day and see that my day has lots of different things already planned in it, I tell myself, "Oops, no time to do art today!" When, in reality, just having one hour is enough time to create a card or clean up my work space or start cutting up some papers for a future project, etc.

Carol:

My first thought would be time, then clean space and last motivation. But the reality is it's really just me. Recently I read an excellent book, Creative Time & Space by Rice Freeman-Zachery, and it became clear those are just the excuses. I'm not sure why I hold myself back but at least for now I know where not to look for the reasons.

Z'Anne:

I think the hardest time I have when making art, is trying to choose which idea

to work on. Right now, I have three different necklaces in various stages of

completion and a couple of mixed media pieces sitting and waiting for me to

get back to them. A lot of times the starting is not the problem, it's the

finishing up that gets me.

Steph:

Finally an easy question!

My MESSY studio.

I tend to work in a frezy when inspired and end up with hardly room to move. When it's a clean slate, it's so easy to just start tinkering. Hence when it's over cluttered, I can't get past the mess and avoid even going in my studio, till I'm inspired to clean. I tell myself in my next life I'll work neater.

A fine mess:

Lenall:

In my experience there have been several stumbling blocks that have and do keep me from making art.

The biggest stumbling block I have experienced was stress on the job. There were many instances of this in my life. The worst included a nasty boss and long hours. Working in retail there were always long arduous hours, whether I liked the job or not. When I worked for a builder as a real estate broker there was the stress of performance to make the sale. Commission is stressful, especially when you intentionally can't live on your draw. I went through a very tough time in the industry where many builders went down including the one I worked for. It was stress to survive.

For 8 more go to: www.lenall.blogspot.com

Jill:

If I get to a point in a piece of work that visually displeases me, often I can't seem to get beyond it. Needless to say, I have a large graveyard of unfinished pieces.

Carrie:

Hmmm, there are plenty but a big one for me is getting organized with all of the materials I think I may need. It seems that when I finally get going, I find that I need some other items to complete my project and can't seem to find them (even though I know they're around somewhere!) - arrrghhhh! Too much time is wasted looking - so either I end up improvising with something else or else a shopping foray and thus end up with duplicates of the same thing.

Suzanne:

HA--that's an easy one--myself!

Robin:

Lack of focus. I think I'm at my most creative when I work on a series and keep at it, making small experimentations as I go. If I don't have a series going, I feel overwhelmed by options and have a hard time starting or sticking to anything. Every book, magazine, blog seems to pull me in a different direction.

Too many ideas:

Paula:

Procrastination and lack of motivation keep me from creating. Once my muse wakes me up, I'm not blocked any more and am able to create.

Jennifer:

My greatest stumbling block to creating art often happens when I am in the middle of creating an assemblage piece. There are found objects all over the tables of my studio, because I haven't discovered the "perfect" treasure to add to the piece. So I start organizing and putting things back where they belong and soon find the "missing link".

Suzie:

Daily practice! Having been busy creating a new business, I've only
occassionally done a little art here and there. I was surprised to see
that it was challenging to get back into the old familiar rhythms.
Back when I did 30 minutes of art a day, I was mostly in the comforting
flow of brushes, color, texture and discovery.