Drained, Rest and Recharge

This is more of a second part of an earlier BLOG on Burn-Out though orientated toward avoidance. Better known perhaps as PPR, Planned Preventative Maintenance,  it is a tactic used by large companies to organise thorough checking of equipment and sometimes Administrative functions in a bid to identify and recognise problems before they arise, you will see on Medical equipment, gas and electricity units label that provide a date and signature of 'the last service', much the same as the engineer who comes annually to check your smoke alarm and gas supplies..

For you, Burnout occurs when passionate, committed people become deeply disillusioned with their creativity fro which they have previously derived much  of their identity and meaning.  ,  as much as the gas engineer, a thorough understanding of the mechanics is necessary, in your case, yourself and how your body functions is an absolute must to recognise what your body is telling you to do, hunger means food, thirst means drink and, as your body becomes more drained of creative resources so it will give you all the early warning signs you need.

The underlying cause of Burn Out for the most can be as simple as a complete mental drain of all resources leaving your mind empty of any creative process of consequence, as the things that inspired your passion and enthusiasm are stripped away and tedium creeps in and has usually come at a point where, quite unawares, you have worked yourself literally to the limits of your own capabilities without recognition that your body has been telling you to ''Take a Break''.

Of course I can not tell you how your body will indicate pending doom for every person will reach that point in any number of different ways, for me I see a gradual reduction in the time I am able to work in a single stretch, I see myself in subliminal desperation seeking out other tasks to fill the time between work at the table, this in itself simply adds to the workload and speeds up the decline of capabilities.  Working on line, the artist as marketer really is a great mind drain, flipping from the creative Right brain to the logical Left, continually back and forth, the slow and satisfying world of creativity to the rapid linear functions of On line self promotion, web building, BLOGS, email, teaching and support, galleries, stock supplies and all the social media activities, these eat up your time and your energies and will contribute to your rapid decline as you play out  a real see saw life of ups and downs; I dont have to stop creating completely just to reduce my other activities and slow my creative life down and take stock of my own philosophies and reasons for doing what it is I do.

 I have learned now to recognise earlier rather than later that the time is coming up for ''a service'' and know that I need to take steps before I completely become dysfunctional.

I have recently posted a note on all Social Media that simply states, 

''Advance notice:  All social media related to Studio8 and the Biomorphics Groups will be offline from 14 - 24 MARCH 2017".

It is time for me to start winding down a little, you can and should learn to understand your body communications with you, once achieved the Burn Out will be more of a sizzle while you stoke your own fire, recharge the batteries and get back to basics occasionally.

Sharing

TO SHARE OR NOT TO SHARE

that is the question.

I do not 'teach' in the formal sense of the word yet there is always a need that exists within me to enrich the life of others, I make my contributions via internet art forums and groups where there is always an eager group of artists seeking to find themselves and their place in the vast world of art.

Today, though not for the first time, I come across the question (for some the dilemma) of sharing newly discovered techniques, this one from an artist prompts this BLOG post

''I would like to pose the question to all of you. I have been doing a great deal of work with alcohol inks, which is a medium that a lot of people are largely unfamiliar with. I have developed my own specific techniques with this medium to get specific effects that I use in my body of work. 

Recently I've been getting several inquiries about my process. Part of me is thinking about possibly doing a tutorial video explaining my process, but I'm wondering how you all feel about this. Are some secrets best kept close to the vest, or is it wise to share my ideas with others?''

Art is what we do FOR OURSELVES its purpose however has end users.

Aside that which we do for ourselves a part of being an artist is that there is an end user this answer I pose is not related to selling or Not for Profit end user it is about recognising and acknowledging that which the history of art as well as our peers has GIVEN US to enable our getting to a point of being able to experiment.

     I always consider that sharing is a part of our role as artists toward others who seek to find the artist within themselves, is there any difference between 'sharing' and 'teaching', there is a difference of course but it is pedantics for to me they are one of the same.

     Where would any of us be but for the techniques passed down from generations of artists as far back as the caves of prehistoric man and the ancient egyptians to name but two.

Of course, we are inventors as well as artists and experimentation is, or at least should be, a part of our process, either as a conscious act or in the sense of subliminal learning from our making of art.

To share with another artist our new found technique or material, colour or shape is a great thing to do and, in that process of sharing we pass something on that may add to the progress of another.

     We would all like to be the founder of a new something that will have a positive impact on another human being, in the grander scale, of something that would affect the entire art world and become masters in our own lifetime, Da Vince, Caravaggio, Picasso, the list of such great names is endless but we can not ALL be the next Dali or Einstein, were that the case our value as creators would be as slight as that of a matchbox or an envelope, even without attaining such high stature however we have a role to play, who knows, maybe the next person we share something with will use the information to set them off on a new journey of self discover and escape from whatever it is that ails them, alternatively, it could well be the next Gucci of the future that takes one of our discovered colours and creates an entire range of clothing that will change the nature of street fashion, the truth is that we never know who we are sharing with but at either end of the scale I do feel that we have a duty in some way to share.

     Without sharing we also deprive ourselves perhaps of an opportunity that can help us aswell, by sharing we can reach into the wealth of knowledge and experience of others, I would hazard a guess that, no matter how original your idea might be, there will be someone, somewhere in the world or history who has happened upon your idea, perhaps not in the same format, perhaps with a different process or outcome, the possibilities are endless yet without sharing you can not be shared to from others.

I have written enough for this BLOG so, be happy making art and, BE HAPPY SHARING.

the art of success

There are only two ways to get on in life really and I have tried both. You can either ‘Buy your way in’,  or work your way in" I prefer the latter, working for something is not only a source of great satisfaction it is also, more importantly, that it is only through doing something from start to finish that lessons will be learned along the journey, you cannot simply ‘buy’ experience.

Once learned, these lessons in life will become your foundations for the future, a future which not only is of benefit to your own creative skills but also in the obligation which comes from progress, that of the sharing of constructive information for others, you are not reading my BLOG simply because you like my grammar, that I am woefully inadequate to teach; you are reading in the hope of learning something of benefit to you.

I am not one for giving workshops or any formal teaching role, instead I use Social Media as my form of communication, I am a member of several arts group in Social Media and though I am not a regular contributor occasionally a post will appear and below it a thread of thoughts, resolutions, personal experiences all aimed at providing an answer to whichever dilemma started the thread.

In a recent post, the question came up, ‘’How do I become a Success’’ which prompts this BLOG post.

 In all of the arts, The Philosophy of embodiment is quite simple, ‘’get up and go to work, work all day, stay focussed at your work and to show younger or less experienced artists what it is to be a working artist’’, to make a career out of it, you cannot teach this, if artists want to progress they have to see it in practice and then go away and do the job.  Slow down and be comfortable with what you make and what you do in your practice and be prepared to make what it is you like to make rather than to be distracted into making what it is that other people might want. 

Particularly with sculpture and other hand-made craft type disciplines rather than time based  practices, Working in the studio with a quality of commitment and focus takes time and practice to master, that needs to work, for you, for a sustained period of very many years.

So often I see individuals trying to fit being an artist into their life but it does need to be the other way around and that is to try and juggle your life around being an artist, how can you become