Do you start the New Year with the intention of starting over and being different?
Or maybe just clearing out the clutter and the "deadwood" and creating a clean slate?
This post is about trying to summarise helpful things to do when starting over. To my mind they're truisms which apply at any time of year to anybody - but it doesn't take too much thought to see how they also apply to artists starting a new year.
This is also for a friend who's just told me her 'big news' which means major change lies ahead! She says I always give good advice.........
 |
A "timeout for reflection" pastel drawing on a Greek island
cropped from a larger work drawn plein air in a morning
- now featured in the introduction to my book |
7 Tips for a New Start in Art in 2015
1. You're never too old to start doing something new
Says the woman who wrote a
her first book as she approached her 60th Birthday!
One of the things I find most inspiring about artists is seeing how many got serious about their art and 'making it' as an artist after a lot of the things which are seen as traditional achievements of a woman were done and dusted.
You've had your kids, they've gone to school, they've sat their exams, they've gone to Uni, your best friend and/or hubby just became a total toerag, your dependant parent has just died - so what next?
It's absolutely never too late to start doing something different. It's never too late to become the person you need to be.
It's never too late to become the artist you want to be.
2. An enforced change is as good as a rest
Those of us fortunate to live long enough often learn a few things along the way - such as
- well considered action plans for our future can be obliterated in an instant by something you have absolutely no control over.
- sometimes the constant you thought you had in your life forever suddenly disappears and you need to start thinking about what to do next.
- Just as a marriage can suddenly break down, or a child or a parent or a partner dies, or you get made redundant, artists too can suddenly find themselves without a gallery or any viable income streams.
I've learned over time that what often looks bleak to start with frequently turns out to be something of a different colour when I've got over the massive jolt to my life.
More or less all the things which have happened to me - which felt like near disasters at the time - changed, with the benefit of hindsight, to becoming some of the best things that
ever happened to me.
That's because the jolt out of my comfortable rut got me thinking seriously about what I really wanted to do, what I had to do and how to achieve what I wanted out of the rest of my life.
You won't get much rest if given an almighty jolt - self-imposed or otherwise - but you will feel really reinvigorated as you get back to the basics of being the person you were meant to be.
You also need to be really good at self-maintenance if starting something new so remember to make sure you sleep enough - and change in a positive direction will surely happen!
3. Be clear about your goals and aims
This is akin to knowing where you are going so you know which direction to head in when you run into the stop signs!
When going in new directions, it can sometimes feel as if maybe we're not reading the signs right. We can end up in an unexpected place.
I've always been one of those people with a built-in satnav which means I can happily navigate and drive across country just on the basis of what feels like the right direction. As importantly my inner satnav also tells me when I'm heading off in the wrong direction!
Being clear about what you want to do and where you want to be helps enormously when making decisions on the hoof!
4. Listen to your heart and intuition
Your heart and intuition often tell you a lot about the place you're at and the people you need to trust.
It's good to be positive and to think the best of people - but it's also sensible to be wary - so.....
- Don't take promises of what will happen in the future at face value - check out the credibility of whoever is making the promises - including galleries and people 'who can make things happen'
- If you start to enjoy success as an artist be aware that one of the downsides can involve those who have hitherto been your friends or close to you 'cutting up rough'. They may be jealous. They may try to stifle your activities or control them.
Try seeing things from the perspective of others - work out what a change of in your direction can mean for them as well as you.
I know I very much value being able to tell when people may not be acting in my best interests. Listen to your heart and intuition and then use the left side of your brain to resolve the situation.
5. Clean out the clutter
