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look at art books and museum web sites (guggenheim, moma, etc.) to see how many different kinds of art are out there already, and accepted, even, worth a lot of money. this means when you make something you have never seen before, that is totally good, following the right track. those people had never seen what they were doing. they weren’t copying anything.
follow what you are drawn to do. do something, make a mark, and then respond to it. to get started just start marking, not “making art” or doing “good”...just moving the stuff around on the paper. think about little kids coloring with paper and crayons. scribble. then you can respond to it. “now i feel like putting red there” or “i want to cover that part up with white paint” or whatever. keep going til you don’t feel like doing anything anymore. this could take minutes or days or months. have it up where you can see it when you walk by. don’t do something just to do something. do something that you feel pulled to do. sometimes that is put it in the collage bin and cut it up and use it on something else.
let your art have a life of it’s own. don’t try to copy something even from your own brain. for me, i make it then see what it is. but the process is different for everyone, so honor your process as you evolve.
remember, not everyone will “get” it. that’s ok, but you don’t have to show it to them either...the more you get grounded in loving it yourself the easier that will get. but “even” (: for me, sometimes i am very sensitive about something someone says or what i “think” they will say or think. so just keep going. it is an evolving process (progress not perfection) :)
above all, only say what you love about your art. even in process...you aren’t quite sure how it is going to turn out, but you love it along the way.
(: i love you and your art,
Leanne Thomas
