Creative Focus & Fragile Momentum

I really admire focused intensity in artists. I have had the privilege to spend a little time this summer with a few of the most focused polymer clay artists I know: Elise Winters, Judy Dunn, Lynne Schwarzenberg and Jana Roberts Benzon. (a pretty diverse group, isn’t it?) They’ve each got distinctive styles and are continually evolving within their style. They have incredible technical mastery, and yet I sense in each of them the desire to refine and improve what they do. In their individual ways, they are excellent examples of the power of focus.

I think it’s ironic that several of them have mentioned the experience of being approached by people asking for a quick and comprehensive description of their techniques, of exactly how they achieve their distinctive style. The implication is that it’s something simple and that they need to share it now. Techniques that may have taken years of focus to develop can’t be shared in an instant and style is hopefully a personal thing.

Sometimes when all we see of an artist’s work are online images, or even flawlessly finished pieces in real life, we forget about the effort that is behind the piece. We don’t see the design trials along the way. We don’t see the learning curve. Talented and focused artists’ work often looks deceptively simple. We don’t see the convoluted creative path that may have been traveled. I wish we could. That’s why I enjoy talking to creative people, hearing the stories behind their work, what spurs their creativity. Knowing a bit about the artist’s journey breathes life into his or her work.

At the moment, I am finding creative momentum can be a fragile thing. It seems to me that any time I have to interrupt a creative working streak for a day or two, I lose my momentum. It’s more than that. I seem to flounder and lose the desire to be in the studio at all. It’s discouraging how there seems to be an invisible force field around the studio door that keeps me away. Instead I get swept up in little busy tasks and the vortex of time that is my computer.

Alison Lee’s Craftcast refrain of “Get your butt in the chair” is playing in my head. I know she’s right. I know that if I can get myself started. I’ve got plenty of ideas , but no momentum to get me started. When I finish writing this I am going to make myself go into the studio. Even if all I accomplish is cleaning up some of the latest mess, that will be a move in the right direction. I’ll strive for creative focus when I get working again.