Waiting For Inspiration

I haven’t studied a lot of art history, so I don’t know much about it. But I like to think that is because I am often too busy contributing to it.

In other words I don’t rely on the history of art to push me forward with inspiration. I don’t spend 2 hours flicking through artist memoirs or wandering around the local museum. Call me an ignoramus, but that’s just how it is with me.

It kind of bugs me a bit when some artists suggest to other artists the long way around seeking inspiration in order to get some work done.

I may sound like a bit of a spoilsport, but only people pretending to be an artist sit around, search and spent hours wandering through their local library or gallery trying to seek inspiration.

The active artist, the disciplined artist does not worry about it. They don’t get up and say, “Gosh, where will I get my inspiration from today.” He or she knows that they just have to rock up. They just have to clock in.

They just have to get their tail into the studio at 9am sharp or 8pm sharp – whatever the schedule is.

Waiting for inspiration is like sitting around waiting for the perfect partner to knock on the door. It’s just not going to happen unless you leave the house and interact with people.

In other words, do whatever it is that you need to do in order to get the result you ultimately want. In the case of the artist, they just have to start working at 9am (or 8pm) whether it be scribbling, writing and planning – they just have to be in attendance and in front of the canvas,  so to speak.

This often requires you to work with a headache, with a toothache, without inspiration, after a bad exhibit, after a dispute with the phone company or hearing some bad news.

Yeah it’s hard, really hard some days. But it’s the only way to actively produce some solid results as an artist.

Are you still waiting for inspiration? Don’t wait, be proactive. Just try doing some work, you’ll often find it right there.

Power to you and your art!

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