Getting Stuck

For today's post, I thought I would share with you some more samples out of my art journal.  If you read my recent post about intelligent intuition, you may recall that I suffer from a severe lack of intuition at times, and very often get stuck on how to proceed with a project.  So for today, I wanted to share with you the results of that. 

This first example is a page where I had a starting point, but I didn’t know how to proceed.  It is still a work in progress, and the next time I sit down with my journal, I plan to apply the four steps referenced in the article.  I started with the background, which was cut from a magazine.  Then I found the quote, but  I’ve been stuck where to go with it from there.  I did add some stamps, but didn’t like the way they turned out.

Another page I have struggled with is this one on the theme of “some things we share”.  I really got stumped on this topic because although I share a lot of traits with several people, I had a hard time reconciling those with my power word. (Still haven’t guessed my power word?  My offer still stands!)  After several days of staring at the blank page and putting it off to work on something else, I finally settled on my physical attributes that make me unhappy.  I think we all have a lot of self-hate when it comes to our bodies.  We are always comparing ourselves to other people and somehow falling short.  So I picked out some “nice” physical features that I wished were my own.  I cut them from magazines and I used several different pictures so that none of the parts came from the same source.  They were all pretty features when they were part of the original picture, but when you put them together, they really look pretty hideous.  The point is that this self-loathing is something that we all feel, and while I may hate the way my nose looks on my face, my nose might be quite pretty on another’s face and there may be someone out there who looks at my nose and wishes it were theirs in much the same way I wish mine were different.  I really have not love for this page.  I don’t think it’s finished.  I need to do more, but I’m sure that will come with time.

This last example is one I am stuck on now.  The prompt was “Once in a Lifetime”.  I have thought and thought and thought about this one and am completely stumped.  The only thing I can think of is the song by the “Talking Heads” of the same name.  In the early ‘90’s we played this song in a fun little cover band back in Lubbock.  That’s it.  I did take the scraps I cut off another page and glue them down, thinking I might gesso over it for some texture, but that’s it.

One of the points I want to make by posting these three examples is that creativity isn’t perfect.  You aren’t going to love every project.  You’re not even going to finish every project.  But you do have to at least start.  If you get stuck, move on.  Or if you are insistent on completing what you start, then use some of the tools and tips that others recommend.  Try the four steps to build your intuition.  Or just start slapping things down.  Either way, it is still creative, you are still creating, and who knows, you might just come up with something that you truly love.  I know I did back on Day 79 of my 365 journey.  You can see it here.