From Start to...Start

[Wendy]

For the past several months I've taken my work in a completely new direction. Very exciting! Everything is new (techniques, materials, etc.) However, I now realize that I have no fewer than nine pieces started (a few nearly finished) but I can't seem to get myself to bring them towards closure. Instead, I'm beginning more new ideas!

Though it's not entirely a conscious feeling, I'm wondering if this is due to fear of some sort. If I finish a piece - well, I guess it will be a success....or not. What it won't be is full of possibility anymore.

Really, I can't make sense of it. So, instead, I'm pretty much doing no work now at all. I know I must make a goal of finishing at least one piece, but I'm stuck.

So, I'm wondering....have any of you had this experience and do you have any thoughts or ideas about how to move forward?

Creatively...

Wendy

[Lotus L Vele]

Hi Wendy!
This is a good question. Not that I can help much, but I just wanted to let you know I know where you're coming from! For me, when I get excited about a new idea, I will work on it only as long as I feel I've reached my goal (unconsciously, sometimes) or find that the idea didn't work. I have waaayyyyy too many incomplete projects I know will never see the light of day because, I've reached that point of satisfaction... whether it was a good outcome or not.

Why don't you put these projects aside and continue with the ideas that inspire/flow through you. We creatives work in "spurts" and I find it best to do what I can while the creativity flows. I like to keep some of my unfinished projects visible as inspiration for future projects too.

Take it easy
Lotus

[Wendy]

Hello Lotus,

Phew...it just doesn't cease to amaze me that there are others who share experiences that I've felt so alone/lonely with. It's interesting what you say about having reached your goal, whether good or not. I've never really thought about having art goals other than completely finishing a piece but I think that would probably be very helpful - especially in learning new techniques. I am definitely a "spurt" person, lol, and I'm going to try exactly what you suggested and take advantage of my creative flow with new ideas!

[DJ]

Wendy,
Many creatives go through exactly what you're experiencing, so hang in there. I'm wondering if this has anything to do with the dreaded "P" word? I wrote about it on my blog here. Hope it helps...
Whatever you do, don't quit...
Love & Laughter,
DJ

[Wendy]

Oh, DJ. You have totally hit the nail on the head. I am sooooooo very much a perfectionist. You are spot-on. I'm definitely gonna read that post of yours...I just know it will be full of wisdom. Thank you!

[Jules]

Sometimes when that happens with me the fear is of 'ruining it' if I have a good start. Which is DJ's dreaded P word. Other times the fear is of it turning out very good, because then I can feel like I will not be able to top it.
Still at other times- it is just that I am so excited about a new medium that I want to keep going quickly- and it is my way to start a thing and work very rapidly at the beginning then slow down for completion- after finishing a painting I do not like the technical parts about matting and framing...so some of my not finishing is to avoid that.

My best self-cure is to just pick one and finish it. Once that is done I will pick another- that way I am not overwhelmed by the idea that I have to finish 10. Some of these paintings just get put away incomplete- and it will be months later I will see or hear something- then suddenly know how to finish the stored painting.

Rest assured...you are not alone in this!!

[Wendy]

Hi Jules. Yes, yes and yes. I so relate to what you've said. I do become afraid of "ruining" pieces if I continue. It's a huge fear, actually...huge. And, right now, I'm experiencing that interest in a new medium...and the new ideas are just flowing and flowing. I just wanna keep going with them! And - I just experienced what you mentioned about knowing how to finish something months later. A coupla days ago, I finished something that had been laying around for months and months. Suddenly, I felt like finishing it - and I think it came more easily to me that it would have had I forced myself to finish it back then!

[Jules]

LOL. That's the way of it Wendy! It does goe easily- almost effortlessly once I 'know' what the old painting needs. And I have noticed that it usually ends up being something I had not done at that point- which is why I could not finish it then. What it needed then was something I just learned, or discovered. Yet somehow my psyche knew that new tecnique matched up with that old painting. Maybe we just get ahead of ourselves sometimes?

[DJ]

Lotus is right about that feeling of satisfaction. Sometimes your process is about your growth, and not the finished product. If you like a challenge, when you "figure out" the puzzle of doing something, sometimes you move on to the next challenge without actually doing the work. It's a stepping stone to something else, and you're off to the next mountain to climb higher cliffs.
At any rate, I've always been fascinated by this characteristic of creating because I do think, like Jules, that different people leave unfinished projects for many different reasons.
For some, it's a problem; for others, it's something they can live with.

Possible questions, if you want to investigate:
Is there a specific trigger that moves you to a new project? Or is there a time in your process that allows you to put down your pen/brush instead of finishing? Or is there simply so much time between projects that you lose interest in the unfinished one?

[Wendy]

DJ....again - spot on! I'm finding that my replies to you are brief because I SO completely identify with what you've said...I can't add words to it, lol! I do like challenge and - yeah...the puzzle solving aspect of creativity is intensely interesting to me. Know what? I really like you!

[Alfredo]

Hi Wendy! Hmmm, this is what happened to me with my last project. It was my third album and it was totally uncharted territory. Because the structure of the music was Middle Eastern, it kept me on a tight rein as to how far I could deviate from that. Having a deadline/release date also helped keep me on track. It was, however, not easy (as some here can attest!). I would say I view each song in the album as a 'piece' that you mention. When the ten 'pieces' were composed, no more came through. Hence, the album has 10 songs. The album also went to top the World/New Age charts, win awards, made (and still makes) radios and magazines 'top 10' lists and firmly established me as an artist in that music's genre. So, based on that, I'd say maybe your work is telling you it is to be composed of 9 pieces and the totally new direction you took might completely surprise you in its rewards. Interestingly, numerologically the number 9 is the end of the cycle, 10 (or 1) a new beginning.

[Wendy]

How cool, Alfredo! I really admire your willingness to explore something unfamiliar (I love middle-eastern music/dance, btw). And, I really like that way you "interact" with your creativity in the way you explained that your album let you know that it was complete. And - sounds like you've had great success as a result (congrats!). Cool about the numerology aspect - I know nothing about that, so I love to hear it and learn...

[Alfredo]

Thanks Wendy, although I think it was the unfamiliar forcing me to explore it! LOL. Before I knew it, I was in the middle of it and was not sure I'd conquer the uncharted territory. But it taught me a lot. I learned a lot about my limitations and also about myself as an artist. I think as artists we are taught a lot by our own working process. Maybe right now your art is doing just that, trying to teach you about many things, such as focus and discernment. One thing I think many of us struggle with is perfectionism. We envision something in our artist's mind and struggle to bring that to reality, sometimes feeling like we are failing miserably (when, in fact, we may not be). Even after an album is released, I find things I'd still change, but that is not uncommon with artists of any genre. And sometimes we need that 'no work' time to digest the work we've done thus far? I am in such a period right now.