Inspiration Fridays! Does Your Art Work Even When You Don’t?

Does Your Art Work Even When You Don’t?

This week, I stood in the studio staring at a couple of half-finished paintings. The colors were all over the place, the composition felt busy, and my energy for it was nowhere. The petty voice with no solutions whispered that everything about my paintings felt wrong.

“If you’re an artist, the problem is to make a picture work whether you are happy or not.” – Willem de Kooning

My first instinct? First response? Maybe tomorrow would bring better light, a clearer head, a better mood. Maybe I’ll find something on Instagram to inspire me.

But art doesn’t care about your mood. It doesn’t need you to feel inspired or even content. What it needs is your presence.

Powerful work is formed when we are up against it. When we have every reason and opportunity to stop. Moments when our frustration and self-doubt loom large will teach us the most. Steadily chipping away at the monolith in front of us. Forced to look deeper, try harder, and reach beyond the comfort of what’s easy.

This is why we create. Art as a smiling mirror. It reflects back not only your skill but your determination, your resilience, and your willingness to stay with the process. It asks: Can you keep going? And it reminds us: The answers will come.

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8paint Inspiration Friday - Does your art work even when you don't?

Halfway studio visions

Painting isn’t about waiting for the perfect conditions. It’s about picking up the brush anyway. Trusting that even when your energy wains low and your palette is caked with the dried hues of doubt, each mark you make brings you closer to the realization of your vision.

In fact, the simple act of creating can change that wretched mood. It can pull us out of the fog and reconnect us with the present. It can. But only if we show up.

 

What gets you into the studio when you don’t feel like creating?

Do you leave snacks there?

How do you get through the resistance in your process?

Does Your Art Work Even When You Don’t?

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Inspiration Fridays! How to Show Up For Your Art in 2025

How to Show Up For Your Art in 2025

The holidays have wrapped, our tree is laying in the front yard waiting for the green bin, and the gaudy chaos of last year is fading into memory. The new year, with all of its uncertainty also holds promise, stretching out ahead of us like a blank roll of canvas.

“I don’t believe in art. I believe in artists.” – Marcel Duchamp

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Every artist knows that empty space can sometimes feel intimidating. We ask ourselves, “Where do I even start?” or “What if the work goes south?” It’s all so tenuousness in the fragile beginnings. Still, the act of starting and showing up for your art is the only way to see your vision come to life.

The rhythms of the new year are already taking hold. Amid all the routines and interruptions, one question continues to echo through for every artist:

HOW WILL YOU SHOW UP FOR YOUR ART THIS YEAR?

Art has always been a sanctuary. It affirms our shared humanity and offers a way to reimagine the world. As the year unfolds with its challenges and possibilities, your art holds the power to inspire hope and create change.

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8paint Inspiration Friday - How to show up for your art in 2025

Gabriel Mark Lipper – Mixed Media on Panel – 24″x24″

The secret to showing up for your art this year is simple: ACTION. Every brushstroke, every mark, every moment in the studio creates energy, and that energy builds on itself. With each small step, you carve a path toward something more substantial, a more fulfilling practice, a clearer vision, a new beginning.

Over the past few years, I’ve witnessed how our community of artists has grown, connected, and inspired one another. This shared journey has been a testament to the power of creativity. I’m excited to continue that journey with you this year and to see how your work evolves.

What artistic goals (big or small) are you pursuing in 2025?

 

What are you showing up for in 2025?

How does art give you hope?

What’s the smallest step you can take today to start?

Let’s make this an incredible year!
Paint Tuff!!
Gabriel

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Inspiration Fridays! What does creative space look like?

What does creative space look like?

There’s a Japanese word, yutori, that translates roughly into “a life with room to breathe.” It’s built around the  idea of leaving enough space in your day, and enough wiggle room around your tasks, that they can be accomplished with ease instead of urgency.

“Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted..” – John Lennon

It’s not about doing less. It’s about having a richer experience.

Painting holds this kind of space for us. It asks us to slow down and truly observe. Translating light, color, and form into marks on a canvas forces a reset. It’s an invitation to notice the subtleties we might otherwise miss. Great art is rarely about technical skill. It’s an exercise in presence.

Yutori lives with me in the studio. Deadlines and desire would happily take its place. But when I step out of the way and give my creativity the time it deserves, the paintings themselves begin to breathe. Layer upon layer of experimentation, or a break in my big green chair starring and squinting at the shapes on front of me, even the decision to walk away gives richness to the work.

This erratic pace can feel indulgent, even wasteful. But creativity needs room. It thrives in the spaces between. We are here to make something. Our tools are:

observation, reflection, and time.

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8paint Inspiration Friday What does creative space look like?

The Empty Tomb – Gabriel Mark Lipper

This week, schedule in a nap. Spend some time just looking. When it’s time to work, try building in a little more room for breath. Let the brush linger. Take some time mixing the perfect color. Let the painting sit unfinished. Create a space for the muses to play, follow them, and see where they lead.

 

What would it feel like to create with no sense of urgency?

How does space (literal or figurative) impact your art?

What does creative space look like?

 

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