We creative types tend to think in terms of stories. There are the helpful creative stories and then there are the creative blocking stories. We see an old tree and imagine who was there leaning against it when it was a young sapling and what the surroundings looked like back then. We see a plane overhead and make up stories about where all the people are going and are they looking down at us as we are looking up at them. We see a box by the side of the road and imagine it is full of kittens and make our husband pull the car over to save the imagined kitties. You would think he would be use to this by now, but it still drives him nuts!

As I paint I think of the story I want to tell. Each landscape has a presence, a spirit that I intend to express through color, value, composition, brush work and flow. The stories of my tree paintings convey their permanence, strength, hope and resilience.  This is a creative helpful story.

But there is a negative use of storytelling that goes on in our heads that can block our creativity.  There is the story we create when we get rejected from a show that every other artist in the whole wide world got into but you. The story goes something like this, “I’m a loser, my work sucks, nobody likes me, I will never amount to anything”. Yes we artists do like our drama! Or the exhibit we planned months and months for that didn't meet our expectations, Story; Why keep painting? I poured my heart and soul into this collection and had little response how and why should I continue?

Let’s look at these stories. You get rejected from a show. There is one maybe two people who jury the exhibit and they are going through several hundred pieces of art and  have their own opinions of what they are looking for and how they want the show to read. I once entered a show and the juror liked the figurative work presented to them so much that they turned the exhibit into a figurative show. I had no chance with a landscape. Open your eyes and look at the show. You will see work that you feel is much stronger that yours and you will see work that you think is weaker. What does that mean? Well if you start creating a story it could go something like this… This judge must be blind! My work is so much better than so and so. Or… you go back to I’m a loser, my work sucks, nobody likes me.

What does it really mean? Nothing.  You go back to your studio, create work that is meaningful to you. Enter other shows and accept that not everyone will see your work as you do. Perhaps they are looking for something in particular or out of the 500 entries they only have room for 30. Or quit entering shows all together. Don’t make that your main motivator. Create to learn and express who you are as an artist.

And the exhibit that didn't pan out as expected, look at what did happen there. Perhaps you got great press or had good attendance, the show looked great. You are building collectors each time your work gets out in front of people. Perhaps they didn’t have a space for big works or not interested in small. Who knows? And what does it mean? Nothing. It does not mean you’re a loser, your work sucks, nobody likes you. The next show you might sell 20 pieces!

So the next time those negative stories hit you in the head and start to block your creativity, maybe go buy a pint of Ben and Jerry’s, console yourself, breathe. Being an artist takes a lot of tenacity and perseverance.  You are not just in it for today you are in it for the long haul, it is who you are. Get your eyes back on your own page  and get back on the horse. It may be a rough ride to start with but you will get back into the rhythm again. And then the helpful creative stories will start flowing!

When I start a painting there is the thrill of a new beginning, the excitement of a new expression, the joy of the blank surface ready and waiting for the first marks! And then there is that middle part. It’s like winter. The first snow is so beautiful, magical and exciting! Winter starts out with high hopes of cozy evenings, hot chocolate, spending afternoons making warm soups, long winter walks in the snow. Then you get to January/February. I spent a good part of my life growing up and living in Ohio until I moved to Colorado in 1995. In Ohio the winters are cloudy, dark and cold; the snow hangs around until it turns dark and muddy. I use to self-medicate with snicker bars and mountain dew to get though the gray on gray on gray days, looking at the calendar counting the days until the green of spring.

In life we don’t skip the middle part. We find ways to evolve through the seasons. We don’t quit breathing in the middle of winter. Ok some of you do head for warmer climates and that’s just cheating. No really take me with you next time.

In painting there is that first rush of lying in your forms and colors the excitement of a new painting coming into realization! Then you come to what I call the awkward puppy stage.  That cute puppy you got at 8 weeks all cuddly and tiny, sweet and full of play at 7 or 8 months had grown into a long legged gangly thing with each hair a different length, one of your good shoes in its’ mouth and shredded tax papers on the floor.

This is the stage of the painting where you haven’t yet defined all the forms, haven’t taken the contrast to its’ fullest extent, still needing to define and pull out areas. This is where you are thinking of packing a suitcase and heading to a warmer climate. Hang in there! The puppy will grow up to a beautiful loving dog and those shoes weren’t that comfortable anyway.

This is the stage that a lot of artists stop and move on to the next painting and end up with a room full of unfinished work. Don’t give up on the puppy! Put on some different music, turn the painting upside down, look at it in a mirror to get a new perspective, jump up and down to get your energy up and approach the painting without attachment to the final outcome. Be ok with just doing your best at that moment in time. Remember it is just paint. You won’t hurt anyone if it turns out badly but if you never finish it you will never experience what could have been. All the stages of a painting can be approached with fear and uncertainty just as well as they can be approached with openness, curiosity, acceptance and perseverance. And if you must whine, as sometimes we all must, then have some cheese with your whine and know that this too shall pass. That awkward looking pup becomes cute in your eyes and winter becomes spring.