The Beauty in the Rain

Do you constantly compare your work to other artists' and then get depressed and/or envious?If so, you're not alone.We all fall into this trap from time to time - the secret is not staying there.The truth is that those artists you admire feel the same about someone else. There is always someone else on the path ahead of us and always someone behind us.It's a bit like driving but if you're on the road and you see a car ahead of you, you don't think that the driver is better than you, or is doing something you can't possibly do. You just think he set off sooner than you did. Or maybe he just drives faster than you. And you don't look at the people behind you and think how useless they are. You just assume they started later than you did and maybe they drive more slowly.Yet when it comes to art-making, we somehow believe we should all be starting at the exact same time and moving at the exact same speed - and if someone is out ahead of us, that person is somehow better than we are.It's all nonsense - and it's a dangerous nonsense. Because it saps your confidence and stops you from travelling on your own journey.Making art is a wonderful thing. We have been given such a gift. I don't mean talent - I'm not sure I believe in talent. The gift I mean is simply the desire to make art.  Think of all the hours of pleasure you had as a child with your paints and pencils. And the sense of wonder they created in you.Most people lose that as they grow older but it is still available to us.This morning, the sky turned an amazing deep dark grey.  I commented to my neighbour about the sky: "Just look at that colour!" I said."I know," he said glumly, "rain's coming."That's the amazing gift we have been given. We don't just see the rain, we see the beauty in the rain.Don't let that be tainted by wishing you painted like someone else. Instead, make a commitment to find out exactly what YOU can do.If you would like to learn how to stop the 'compare and despair' cycle and fall in love with your own work, sign up to be notified when I re-open the "Find Your Joy" course. Just CLICK HERE to learn more and scroll down to the form and fill in your details. I'll also send you some helpful tips and fun exercises in the meantime.