-Get Your Art Groove Back

Looking for inspiration to start  your next painting?  Feeling uninspired?  Are you looking to get your art groove back?   I know how that feels, but I also know how to spark up your interest and take a fresh look at what you are creating.

I was a figurative painter for many years.  I had solo shows and was fortunate to be included in many juried and invitational shows.   Until one day…..  actually, it kind of came on me gradually.  I started to notice that I was finding excuses not to be in the studio.  Then, when I would make myself get in there, I spent the time cleaning and organizing, but not painting.  I was surrounded by beautiful work, bright light radiating through the  windows, a garden outside to inspire me, but….nothing.

I just wasn't moved to continue the work I had been used to doing, what others were expecting from me.  I actually ran out of stories to tell.  Nothing spoke to me.  I was… well, I was done.  
I moved to Hawaii for a few years hoping to be inspired by the magnificence of nature.  Nothing.  Everything was too beautiful!. I experienced adventure after adventure looking for something new to paint, something that would set me on fire.   As I stood in awe of other artists, just whipping up paintings every day, I had to admit to myself, that I wasn't ready.  

I came to realize that I was incubating new, original ideas and I needed to honor that quiet time.  Of course, this realization is in retrospect.  At the time, I pushed myself to do sketches for new paintings feeling that I had a creative block.   But, they were paintings addressing the same figurative issues I had done for years.  I lost my groove.

Now, several years later, I can’t wait to get into the studio to create several pieces a day. 

Droplet #1 - Ink on Board, 8x8" ©2012 Deborah Webster               www.deborahwebster.com

What’s my secret?

I had to let go of my “painting identity”.   New ideas were percolating in my head and they were not figurative.  Wasn’t sure what they were and if I would be able to turn them into images I would like.  I gave myself permission to not be a figurative artist.  To play and experiment.  

I spent a lot of time experimenting with media.  One day a studio visitor pointed out that the new work looked like lava formations.  I never thought of that!  Some of the other pieces felt like shimmering water.  Abstraction?  Was that what was brewing?  I had been home from Hawaii for several years.  It sure took a long time to manifest into something.  It was very new for me.  No more figurative work.  Now I focused on water, lava, patterns, texture and movement.

That was quite a few years ago and I am still inspired by nature.  I give myself permission to try new materials everyday.  My work is effortless now.  No more struggles with trying to find inspiration for paintings.  

Get your Art Groove back.  Try this:

-Give yourself permission to take a break and to let go of your “painting identity”.  Take a vacation from trying to create what others have come to expect from you. Living up to other people’s expectations.
-Take a class in a medium that is unfamiliar to you
-Begin a sketchbook challenge for yourself:  Drawing a Day
-Experiment, play, learn
-Be receptive to new ideas that come to you

For more specific ideas on getting your art groove back, look for more posts in the near future:



Sketchbook Mojo!