The way back to inspiration

As an artist you have to have inspiration. You hear a lot of artists complain about having a dry spill, losing their inspiration or their muse and I have dealt with moments like that. For me a lack of inspiration usually comes from frustrations I am dealing with in my daily life, something I have talked about in this blog last week. 

I am lucky I guess, I have a backlog of ideas waiting for me to get to them, there’s always a piece waiting to be made. But that doesn’t mean I don’t deal with a lack of inspiration at times. For me those moments feel like being stuck behind a sandblasted glass wall with my piece being on the other side. I know it’s there I just can’t get it into focus. Getting even some work done when I’m in a state like that feels like wading through a pool of jello. It is the most frustrating thing to happen to an artist, we have to create and something is keeping us from doing it. 

That’s why it’s important to recognize these moments and deal with them as they come, because they will, so we might as well deal with them as soon as possible. Now I think this is a very personal experience and I think everyone will have to find their own way of dealing with it, so my solution might not work for anyone else but me. But this is how I deal with it.

The most important thing for me is to recognize my lack of inspiration and to not fight it. There is absolutely no point to trying to fight through it, I will just get more frustrated and the work I do get done will not be of any value anyway. So I will put the piece I’m working on aside and take a little brake. Now the second most important thing is to NOT leave my studio, or at least, don’t stop being creative. Instead of trying to work through my block by struggling with the piece I’m working on, I will start a new piece, preferably something completely opposite to the piece that is causing the block. For me the way to go is usually working on some experimental collage, just leafing through magazines and putting images together is very freeing and relaxing to me and it will give my creativity a much needed boost. Going out with my camera is another way to go, it will make me feel like I’m being productive while getting some fresh air and being inspired by the world outside. And sometimes just getting my sketchbook out and drawing random stuff helps as well. 

The main thing for me seems to be to take my mind of the piece that is causing the problem but at the same time not to stop creating. Doing something that doesn’t require a lot of thought is nice as well, it helps me relax and at the same time I prove to myself that I do not have a block at all, I am after all, still creating art. 

I would love to know how you deal with your artist block.