Can you make art out of a mess?
It can be hard to leave the house when you know what’s out there. There are paintings just waiting to be painted, but first, you will have to start.
“Art is an adventure into an unknown world, which can be explored only by those willing to take risks.” – Mark Rothko
Don’t let a blank canvas beat you in a staring contest. All of that empty space can feel overwhelming. The canvas continues its empty stare. Watch out! This is when it’s easy to get caught up in another heady conversation about the merits of a painting that you haven’t even started… instead of starting.
Paint half of it out with a color. Now you have two halves to deal with instead of a whole, but a least you’ve started something. You’ve got something that you can respond to. You’ve created some momentum. Start with an ugly color or some big clumsy marks. Paint it badly.
What happens next is exciting. Instead of freezing up, or telling yourself that this painting of yours needs to be a masterpiece, you’ve changed the dialogue. You’re off to a crap start. The one thing that you are sure of, is that you can do something better than what’s on your canvas right now.
And so, you begin to allow yourself some room. Room to explore, to experiment, and to invent. Instead of judging the worth of your painting by the results you achieve, you’re finding your worth in the process itself.
The act of making art is intimidating because we are creating something that has never been created before. We’re trying something new and we don’t know what we’re doing. For many of us, not knowing is a form of being out of control, and being out of control, well, that’s not “OK”.
Who gets to decide when your painting is finished?
So start with a train wreck! Remove your expectations and allow yourself to get past that fear of failure by failing hard, right out of the gate! Then, slowly begin picking up the pieces. Add a bit of color on top that feels better than the color underneath, but let some of that failure shine through. Don’t cover it all up. If it ends up all refinement and perfect color, it will have lost something.
That’s your process, that’s where this painting came from. There is some real beauty in allowing that history to be seen. Before a painting exists it needs to be created. Showing the evolution of that work is daring and it’s interesting.
It’s easy to get stopped when you don’t feel like you’re being respected or taken seriously. The danger here is that you might unwittingly cover up the uglies and clumsies with careful correctness. But the goal of creating your art may not be to collect affirmations. Making great art is giving yourself the room to be yourself.
What’s so off-putting about a blank canvas? Maybe it’s the relationship we have with being seen. If every mark we make on its surface needs to count, it makes trying something new almost impossible.
On the level? Who you are is a work of art, full of perfection and beautiful flaws. Your creativity also leaves a lasting impression.
The canvas that’s holding you back? – the vacant space between “I’m clueless” and “I’m ready.” You might stuff this void full of household chores, other people’s wants, a season of Netflix, or several half-caf mocha grandes. But in the end, for yourself and those who admire you, it’s time to embrace your desire to create and give yourself permission to start.
What do you do with a bad start?
Does “fixing” your mistakes make them worse?
Can you make art out of a mess?
