Sometimes, as much as we love our craft, artists have motivational issues.
We get burnt out, especially those of us with non-artist jobs alongside our little burgeoning businesses. Then there are perfection issues and all of the insecurities we artists carry around with us. My sister wrote a wonderful blog post on how to overcome some of these.
Inspired by her, I wanted to share with you how I have been working on this problem. Here’s the secret: I’m not doing it alone!
Meet my friend Nicolle. She is a wonderful photographer (see her work here) and she, like me, wears multiple hats throughout the work week. In talking, we discovered we both are having trouble finding time to work on our “side” jobs. So I proposed we have a work day. One work day has turned into a weekly meeting.
We meet at Panera, grab a table with an outlet, and set to work. We chat sometimes, and sometimes just type. It is great to have someone to run things by and brainstorm with about small things. Sure, there are font rabbit trails and some people-watching, but work is done! (Like this blog post.) These are the 3 things that were the most helpful:
-Running things by each other. “Gut reaction-which do you like better?” she will ask me about a photo. “What do you think about this?” I ask her. It allowed us brief brain breaks and trusted input on our process.
-Accountability. When someone is next to you working, and you are supposed to be working, then random internet searches are less tempting. Sometimes we work better when other people are beside us pushing us ahead.
-Encouragement. There are times when we just forget that we have some talent! Silly, I know, but the human mind is a dangerous place. Just hearing someone else say “Hey-that is super cool!” about your work, especially another artist, does wonders for the self-confidence.
Did I mention there was coffee? Mmmmm, coffee.
Praise the Lord for good friends!