Embrace Something New

“Being an artist means that you have the ability to imagine yourself into all kinds of othernesses. Doing that, you can rearrange perspectives on things, which can provide a revelation.” Eric Fischl

We all get comfortable and complacent at times. We know we can do something well and it is comfortable. But the truth is, when you venture out of your comfort zone, you learn, and you grow. If you choose to go back to what you were doing prior, you will probable do it better because you will see it with new eyes and more knowledge, even if it is not knowledge directly related to the style or technique you return to.

When we try new things, we put our brain into a unique situation that forces it to really think. This stimulates creativity, which eventually rubs off in other areas of our life. As a result, we begin to think about everything in a new light.

All too often we let the fear of the unknown stop us. But pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones is actually good for us. Trying new things not only helps us to vanquish those fears, but it also allows us to expand our minds and learn—both about said new things, and about ourselves.

Trying more things and being more open to different things helps us to succeed at living a full and fun life as well as expanding our creativity. Don’t let “no” and “I can’t” define your existence. Embrace new things with open arms and positiveness, because you never know where a seemingly scary task might lead you.

I had the pleasure of working with a group of adventurous people last weekend. I taught a workshop at the Gainesville Fine Art Association. Many were experienced artists in other areas, stained glass fiber arts, photography, but only a few had done collage. They embraced the process and produced some beautiful stained paper. They found the process of altering paper fun! Some may use it for collage, but others may use it for altered books, trading cards, gift cards, abstract background, or in their representation work. The key was, they were willing to learn something new, and will take the skills they learned and use them in various ways. As I walked around looking at their work, I was surprised at the different ways they were applying the process, ways I might not have. Take a new skill and run with it.

A lot of us are going to have extra time on our hands in the next month or so, as we hunker down in our homes to avoid the virus surrounding us. With the cancellation of classes, workshops, meetings, social gatherings we will have extra time. We can turn this negative into a positive by using that time to grow as creative people by continuing to learn. We can watch tutorials online, read, work in our designated work space, develop our skills, and be productive.