Here's how to kickstart your creativity...

I've been feeling lost with my abstract painting for a while. I started some paintings a few months ago, but I had no clear idea of my goal for them. I didn’t have an idea or a question or a purpose. I know some people can work this way, but not me. 

I don’t mean I know how the paintings will look - I never know that. But I do have an idea I want to express or a question I want to explore (“what happens if I ….?”) When I have none of that, my work grinds to a halt. If I do try to paint, I simply make a mushy mess that reflects the mushy mess in my head.

So that’s where I was when I abandoned those paintings.

 Some people find it helpful to take a complete break when this happens, but I love painting too much for that. So I find it helpful to switch and paint something utterly different. This time I chose portraits and you’ve seen some of them over the last few weeks. 

The switch has been so good for me. It made me paint in a different way. It made me use different parts of my brain. I had to remember how to see. I had to think about brush marks carefully. I had to mix very delicate colour shifts. I found myself totally absorbed in what I was doing. I loved it.

But then this week, I felt a little stirring - I don’t know how to describe the feeling but you might know what I mean. It’s a slight restlessness mixed with a little fizz of excitement. The feeling built over a few days and suddenly I knew I was ready. I grabbed those failed abstract paintings, sanded them right back and started again. 

I chose a palette I discovered while making the portraits - pthalo blue, primary magenta and cadmium yellow along with black and white. I had discovered that this palette makes an amazing range of colours - especially greens, veering from vibrant warm lime greens to cool, dark blue-y hues. 

I only had an hour of studio time left but boy what an hour it was! All that time away meant going back to my abstracts felt like a huge release. I started fast and loose and quickly covered 6 wooden panels. But then I also found myself bringing in the stuff I had learned during my portrait painting. I slowed down. I mixed more subtle colours. I applied paint carefully.

Before I had finished the second layer, an idea came to me. I knew what these paintings would be about. Now I know I am in business!  

I don’t have anything finished to show you - just some beautiful colours in the early layers ...

I don't know where these paintings will go - there is a journey ahead of us - but I wanted to write about this experience because it illustrates an important point - we can’t labour our creativity. We can’t force it. We can’t push it against its will.

If your heart isn’t in your work, you must find something else that inspires and excites you. That might be a change of medium or a change of subject - or it might be a complete break from painting while you do something else.

Whatever it is, if it brings you joy and excitement, it will reinvigorate your art. It might take days or weeks or months and you must allow that time. You must let it take however long it takes. In the end, it will work. One day, you will feel your old love bubbling up once again and when that happens, you can return to your art with renewed enthusiasm and lots of new ideas.

Personally I learned a lot from this time. I now plan to continue the portraits alongside these abstracts. I'll switch between them, so that the two types of painting can feel into each other. But if I get to a point where I am not enjoying the portraits, I will stop making them. Life is just too short to spend it doing things we don't enjoy :)