Five Ways to Get Back into Painting

Whether it's been 5 days, 5 months or 5 years, sometimes it can be hard to get yourself back into the studio and painting. I hear this more than anything from artists - agony about the fact they aren't painting enough. In fact, I feel this myself regularly and this is what I do:

1. Journaling. Just like we need to clear the physical cobwebs and keep our studios clean and orderly, journaling helps keep our mental head space orderly and moving forward.  Write down your goals. Clear away your limiting beliefs or mental blocks.  Affirmations are actually pretty effective - for me anyway. I like what Denise Duffield Thomas said - (I'm paraphrasing) - Make your affirmations be related to your goals like - "I am an artist with a weekly painting practice."  Denise says your subconscious will help you make choices that makes this true for you because your brain doesn't want to lie to itself.  Now who knows what the science actually says about how or why this works. But I've tried it and it actually helps!

2. Prime the pump of inspiration. Go to a museum. Go to a concert.  Watch a sublime movie - get out the Kurosawa or something that really moves you. Something you cannot half-watch and half-play-Candy-Crush to.  Go on a hike in the quiet.  See the stars.  Remind yourself why you love art and need art and want to give art to others.

3. Make a date with someone.  Put a date on the calendar for a show, or a plein-air meet-up, a workshop. This makes all the difference for me! Nothing will light my fire like an obligation, expectation or even a bit of tension in the week that makes it seem like I don't have enough time. Somehow if I feel like I have all the time in the world all of a sudden I don't feel motivated.  So, I schedule painting trips, dates and meet-ups with artists I trust so I can keep my momentum.  

4.  Just show up - without a plan to paint.  Clean, organize, tidy, frame, collate. There are a million things I can do, but just showing up to putter is my favorite way to start. Once I get started, it tends to take on a life of its own.  Once the spark takes hold, you know it's going to fly, so just put yourself in the right place so the magic can happen.

5. Sketch your ideas. This might go hand-in-hand with journaling.  Sketch ideas of what you'd like to make. Write about it, test some colors.  Oops - you just started painting!   

Happy Painting! And if you are looking for a workshop, class or meet-up to put on your calendar - check out what I've got on offer HERE.