The creative process

In life, this is perhaps a trait of artistic personalities, but it is very rare that we do something in a straight line. And of course, this is SO applicable to the creative process!

You wake up in the morning with a project idea! In your head, it goes “wow, I have something there!” I have to get this started today.” So go to the workshop.

You sort through all these ideas a bit to come out with one and start with it. Experience tells you that one idea at a time is enough to work on for quite a while. So, yes, you CHOOSE, even if it's tough , choose.

Get to work, girl! You set to work with all the good intentions in the world. End by end you try... it fails. You try again, it doesn't work either. You say to yourself “It’s not over until it’s over, I’m going to get it”. It makes you think of your volleyball years… your imagination goes elsewhere. But you come back to the main thing after a few minutes of daydreaming.

All week long, you try to bring your initial idea to fruition. It doesn't seem to work though. Nah, that won't work. You're starting to get really discouraged by all these "failures", so you decide to leave it all there and make another call. You clearly lack motivation in the project.

The days pass and you no longer think too much about your late project, but it hangs around in your workshop. And one day, you don't know why this link pops out of your head, but you saw something that made you think about your extinct project and you think that you may have just found THE key to getting there .

Neither one nor two, you get back to it. And after some “tapping” on it, minor modifications of one step: well there you have it! It REALLY WORKS. You refine this and it’s really beautiful! More than in your head, at the start. Unbelievable! You congratulate yourself.

BUT damn, you have to put a price on that. That's not your cup of tea AT ALL. You share this with others around you, does this price have “meaning”, is it fair ? It's no fun putting a price on a creation. You always doubt whether anyone in the universe will see the same thing as you and LIKE it. It's a little scary, but it's a necessary evil, you know that.

And you go home half happy, half doubtful that it will do anything. But hey, you thrive on projects, that’s how it is. And on a beautiful summer day when you weren't working, the saleswoman calls you to tell you that this exact same creation has found a new home and that the customer is REALLY SO HAPPY! Wow, happiness is shared! Well yes, it was worth it and you know you'll do it again!

Ah! The artists...