I got this comment in my May Survey, and I feel compelled to address it:
For me, it's about playing and have fun; hanging out with my intuition.
In the only workshop I've taken with you you, I clearly remember you
saying fun and play are NOT what making art is about and went so far as
to say we should EXPECT to have a meltdown during the course of the
workshop. Unfortunately, I listened to you, had my meltdown, worked
seriously, with great industry and felt the joy leak right out of me.
I've wondered how you sustain your art life doing it this way; it seems
painful.
In my in-person workshops I do address the issue of The Meltdown. The Meltdown is when you are frustrated with your work; you look around, and eveybody else in the workshop seems to 'get it', they are just chugging along and their work all looks great. Yours looks terrible. You start to feel that you've wasted your time and your money being here, you are out of place, who do you think you are trying to be an artist? You are ready to throw your brushes, or whatever down and exit.
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When the Meltdown shows up, eat a chocolate chip cookie.
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My advice, such as it is, is to notice the meltdown, notice that your feel frustrated, and let it be. Give it a time limit. OK, I agree to feel like sh!t for an hour. After an hour, I get to pack up and leave if I want to. Fine. I don't have any advice on avoiding the meltdown. In my experience, just noticing it, giving the meltdown its space, has a way of making it dissipate.
I have also noticed that students in my workshops have fewer meltdowns when they know about it ahead of time. They might have mini meltdowns, but expecting some moments of frustration has a way of making them less important. And they have fun.
It admit that I cringe a bit when someone arrives at my workshop saying "I just want to have fun". I hear that as "I'm not here to push myself" or "I expect this to be all fun and easy". Learning new things, being challenged IS fun with the right attitude. But most of us have moments of frustration and uncertainty in a workshop environment, and I just want people to set their expectations appropriately.
Making art IS about play and it IS fun, but that is not all it is, usually. If you are always playing and having fun, with no angst or frustration, and you are also generating images that really speak to you, that you find compelling, then that is just GREAT! Congratulations. Most of us also have moments of frustration and occasional meltdowns or at least self-doubt. Learning how to navigate these skillfully is part of the process.
One more thought: art is a LOT more fun when you have facility with your materials and techniques, and you have a fluency in composition. I don't mean you "know the rules", but that you are able to SEE the visual content of your own work. So in teaching and learning skills, I hope that affords us all more fun in making art!
Thanks to the anonymous contributor to my
May Survey. I am sure there are others who have the same questions.