7 Mindset Tools to Help Boost Your Creativity

Sentinel Collage #7 11” X 14” with mat

Being an artist is a lot more than putting paint on a surface. It’s a mindset as well as a skillset. There are some very useful things you can do to grow your skillset, not the least of which is to practice. I don’t think that’s any big news. Paint more, draw more, build more, stitch more and you will become better. The thing that separates the good artists from the great ones is their ability to do certain things that many of us struggle with.

First, art requires us to embrace uncertainty. The blank canvas, blank page, empty design wall stops a lot of people. What if it doesn’t turn out well? Here’s a little secret, no one else cares how it turns out - except you! Artists don’t worry so much about what other people think and they get started having no idea where a piece of art might go. It separates us from the planners and worriers. We get started because we want to make something. We’ll know when it’s done so we don’t think about the final product until the end.

Artists also don’t think of creating art as a moment of completion. When we take a photograph, everything in the picture is there at the same time. When we paint a painting, stitch an art quilt, draw a sketch or throw a pot on the wheel the piece evolves over time. Some paintings take months. Some pots get smashed and redone over and over. It isn’t a moment. The art has history. Even a photographer will understand that a picture that captures a moment actually has a story attached to it that compresses time into a final piece of work. So, artists accept that it takes time and the time it takes is what give the art its history.

Artists also have to be able to let go of stuff. There are people who accumulate things. Clothes, shoes, art supplies, and so on. They sometimes have trouble getting rid of things for a myriad of reasons. Everything from I paid money for that to it was my first set of paints to what if I need it again someday has them holding on to stuff. I’m not suggesting you throw away your art supplies. But in a painting or piece of art there will be things that look great and parts that are less helpful to the success of the overall piece of art. Artists know that they have to paint over it, cut it away, get rid of it or start over - even if they already spent a lot of time on something. Artists have to discern what’s worth keeping and what isn’t. Then it’s a matter of reducing the artwork down to the key things it needs. The rest gets tossed - even if it cost money, took time or you really liked it.

Another tool in the artist mindset is the ability to change their mind. Many times what we set out to do just isn’t working. Unlike many things in life, you can’t force it. Here is an example of a piece that I really, really wanted to be a landscape. It just wasn’t having it and it told me in no uncertain terms. I could have made it a mediocre at best landscape. But instead, I made this. I believe it to be better. If I was stubborn, this would have been a lousy landscape.

The habit that allows artists to create is a very simple, but easy one. Show up. Even when you are busy, tired, don’t know what to make, and on and on. Artists show up and give it their best effort on a regular basis. Which is why if you haven’t been able to get back to your painting, writing or creative endeavor, it’s likely you’ve been away from it. Show up for fifteen minutes and see how it goes. Then a half hour. And stay as long as it’s productive. But, if you tell yourself you don’t feel like it, you perpetuate the habit of not showing up. Artists can’t think like this if they ever want to get better. This carries over into every other aspect of life, in my opinion. Take a walk for fifteen minutes, read a book for fifteen minutes, prepare healthy food rather than processed food. What you show up for improves. Decide what you want and then show up for it.

Artists are generally willing to confront things that are a problem. This is not to say that we are a confrontational lot. In fact, I think we are as adverse to picking a fight as anybody else. But, if something isn’t working in a painting, novel or poem we see that there’s a problem and we want to fix it. Which might mean we paint over it, edit out a lot of what we wrote, smash the clay or whatever it takes to resolve the problem. In general, as artists we are actually just creating problems and then going about solving them. But we aren’t afraid to confront the problem. If you are fearful of confronting your painting, you will have a hard time showing up.

Along with confronting problems, artists also have to believe that they can resolve a problem. Making art is an open ended problem. There are many options about what you could do. In fact, having too many option can be the problem itself. Thus the need to reduce and let go of the things you don’t need. So the mindset of the artist is the belief that you have the ability to solve problems. We all know someone who throws their hands up in the air whenever the littlest setback arises. We don’t generally ask them for help when we are in a pickle. By taking time, showing up, confronting what we think is the problem with our artwork, accepting that there are infinite options and then believing that we can make a decision and move the art forward we grow a creative mindset.

If any of these habits resonates with you - Great! If any of them push your buttons, they may be keeping you from making really great things. I hope you will have a review of your creative practice and see if there are any ways you can reduce the obstacles and make the creative effort more effortless.

Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question. I’d love to hear from you. Until next time, have an inspired day and show up for something that really matters to you.

with gratitude,

Claude

Sentinel Collage #11 11”X14” with mat