It’s challenging when there’s inspiration everywhere…

and sometimes it’s downright debilitating. Come on you creative types, don’t you just want to shut it off sometimes? On the days in the studio when I am deliberate and focused it feels really amazing, but it’s rare. I’m trying to embrace the brain I’ve been allocated. This brain is pretty cluttered and noisy and ridiculously interested in everything.

I can’t help myself. I am truly stopped in my tracks by a shiny object on the side of the road, what’s in my garbage, or stuck to my boots. For years I have tried to fight it. I’ve tried to resist the urge to photograph or jot down something that sparked me and now I’ve realized that although it isn’t actually a most inconvenient trait—it’s a big a part of me and cannot be stifled. It will surface again and again especially if I try to ignore it. Then it gets loud and really obnoxious. I do however really wish that there was a way to shut it of…a metaphoric MUTE button for muse. Let me know your thoughts on this topic. What do you do to shut it off? Thank goodness for truly amazing television right now and a state filled with craft brews.
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Thank you Lloyd Dobler.

lloyd-dobler-3One of my favorite lines from a movie is John Cusack’s character Lloyd Dobler in the 1989 movie: “Say Anything”.

“I don’t want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don’t want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed. You know, as a career, I don’t want to do that.”

This was a line I heard in a movie 25 years ago (oh, how I loved Lloyd Dobler-and he did really remind of one of the boys I loved when I was young). It has really stayed with me and now in 2014 I think it’s becoming much clearer. I am an artist. My studio is filled with tangible original art that I am proud of and theoretically I should show to people and sell. However, I am not a salesperson. Once the piece is created, the last thing on my mind is pursuing the sale-perhaps because I am not very good it. The joy for me is in the idea and process.

I am discovering what drives me more is to show others how to communicate their own ideas more effectively in ways that could open up possibilities for their lives. So, the process I am in the middle of is figuring out exactly how to do that and what training is required of me. I don’t want to shelve my artistic and spatial gifts but I do want to channel them in a way that feels very authentic, resonates for me and helps others. Ideas…?