Monday 31 August 2015

Strange times and creative block

It's been a funny old year so far, I hadn't realised just how burnt out I was after the image a day project and have felt (creatively) exhausted all year, though there is always a bit of downtime between projects and exhibitions, I've never felt so drained before, I have recently taken part in a group show in Lorrient, France with 3 other Manx artists and 4 Cornish artists. (here is my work and me):




 If I'm being honest I found it incredibly difficult to get motivated to do the artworks required for the show and ended up working right up to the deadline (normally I leave myself at least a month to be finished before a show). I was in France for 10 days and either side of it spent a few days in the Uk visiting friends, visiting galleries and seeing old clients, The show In France was also hugely successful and I feel very proud to have been a part of it, though whilst away I did have a bit of an epiphany, I worked out why it was so hard for me to produce work and why I've done little in the way of art since last December, part of this is due to a little bit of exhaustion, as stated before due to the nature of the image a day project another aspect is due to my teaching role taking up more of my time, so I have less time to produce work (I should note that I love the teaching and find it hugely inspiring and enjoyable) however the main reason why I've found it hard to get going, is that even after 10 years of working as a creative, I'd let myself be convinced that I was no good at it!

It seems silly thinking of it now, but I had let certain individuals (well, one) make me feel bad and inadequate in producing art, my trip away was great it has re-built my confidence as an illustrator, artist, creative or whatever you want to call it. So I feel good again, confident, now I know what the problem was, I know not to listen to certain people as a result I've already started producing new works, I also have ideas for a show, I feel ready to take on a new project now!