If you’re like me, you loved art before you started making it. In fact, your love for art is, in large part, what probably led you to make your own. I think that ought to always be the case; that my love for art should remain close to the heart of my creative process.
Which leads to something of a dilemma.
As much as I enjoy music, I have a tendency to think and talk shop about music—meaning, my love and appreciation often take a backseat to analysis and critique. But that’s harder to do when I’m looking at work I know I can’t make— work by artists like Rothko or Vonnegut. Because I cannot do what they do, I can sim- ply take it in and enjoy it as a viewer and reader. I can be inspired.
It is easy to fall out of love with art if I am constantly in the grind of making it. One way to re-awaken that inspired love is to step away from our own creative process for a bit. Another way is (as is discussed earlier in this book) to make something outside your primary discipline or craft. I would add to that list the joyful discipline of listening to, reading or seeing art you know you can’t make.
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This is an excerpt from my book Title Pending, which will be released this Fall/Winter. Join the email list for more like this, news about the release and content no one else gets.