Well, how are you? 

This week I wanted to talk to you about the feeling of being terrified, as we step into who we are as people and who we are as an artist. 

As the world is such a crazy place during this pandemic I am seeing such a demand for people who need guiding through their fear. People questioning who they are as an artist – from beginners through to the people who have been a full-time artist for years. Self doubt can start to creep in at any point and we all need to find some inspiration from time to time.

A beginner 

When a beginner approaches me worrying whether they are good enough to join us at United ArtSpace or our Virtual Art Studio group, I always say to them, everyone has to start at some point. It doesn’t matter if you don’t feel like you’ve got the experience or the techniques. You will never gain them if you always shy away. However, having this mindset can really start to knock down your creative walls and can be really restrictive and eventually build big blocks. 

Take time 

When you feel this way, it is really important to take time for yourself and think about what inspires you. It is all about reconnecting with yourself and art that you love, and why. It’s looking at what is beautiful in the world. What excites you? It starts to get really exciting because you will start to find yourself again as a person and an artist. 

Being an artist is all about you. Your individual reason for making art in the first place will be different from everyone else, but that is what makes art so amazing. Everyone will create differently, they will have different why’s, different who’s and that is what makes every piece of art different and beautiful in its own way.

Stop comparing 

As artists it becomes very easy to start comparing yourself to others and this isn’t always a good thing. You may see someone else’s artwork and you may think why am I bothering? Why am I bothering? Who do I think I am? And then you may stop or go in a different direction. STOP! You just need to focus on your own journey – your journey is your journey and what everyone else is doing doesn’t matter. 

It’s okay to be inspired by others’ work but don’t compare your work to theirs. This is where I am right now. This is what I love. This is what I want to practice more of. When you keep bringing it back to that and quieten the noise of everything else, your confidence will grow.

Someone once said to me, you may be comparing your chapter one to someone else’s chapter 25. And this is so true! 

We all feel these insecurities and feelings of self doubt and this is completely normal.

Finding inspiration 

When you hit this brick wall of self doubt and unknowing with your own art, having an inspiration drawing board to refer to back to can really help get your creative mind going again. Thinking about why does it matter to you and what are you drawn to is a really good place to start. 

Throw all the rules out of the window, sometimes they don’t matter. It doesn’t matter what type of artist you are, just forget the rules and release the labels so it takes the pressure off. This can make it so much easier to find that inspiration, spark and flare. 

My top tips!

So this week, my top tips are: 

  • We all have to start at the beginning so don’t hold back where you are in your journey. 
  • Stop comparing as this can cause fear.
  • Your chapter one may be someone else’s chapter 25.
  • Find what inspires you so you can build on this when a creative block hits.
  • It is okay to forget the rules sometimes – as an artist we can make our own. 

And don’t forget, your journey is your journey!

Much love, 

Michelle x.