“Nothing would be done at all if a man waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault with it”
– John Henry Newman
Avalanche Slope (relief print)
Sometimes, there are golden moments when I’m working on a print or a painting, where everything seems to be going well and I have confidence in each move. Those experiences are delicious.
Most times, though, that is not the case.
Usually I move in a cycle between not knowing what to do next, identifying a possible move, and then trying it out.
That feeling of not knowing – it can be a strange and uneasy place. I think this is part of what stops people from making art in the first place. Starting in school and continuing into our adult lives, we are expected to find the right answer and to know what we are doing.
In art, this attitude cripples us. We need to march boldly ahead, coming up with ideas, trying, testing, creating, and only occasionally stepping back to evaluate the results. If our intention is to be right, we’re lost from the start.
What if we shifted our attitudes so we could find joy in seeking out problems? What if we could embrace the unknown as a challenging form of play? That might be the ultimate success.
After all, the joy of creating is in the not knowing. Each decision flows from the previous one. The important thing is to choose the best option we see, act, and wait for the next choice to appear. An artwork is complete when no more choices present themselves – when the answer to “can I think of anything else to do” is “no”.
When I was making the print Avalanche Slope, I took it as far as I could, and I was happy with the result. Over time, my experiments with other prints have shown me ways I can improve on this print – so I am going to give it another shot. Not knowing, but trying it anyway.
Avalanche Slope #2 (test sketch)
This concept also applies to most facets of our lives. Without knowing the outcome of any of our decisions, we must choose anyway. We move forward, not knowing if we are right or wrong or if there is even any such thing. We could look backwards, questioning our choices, or stand paralyzed with indecision. But a bold life requires choosing firmly and moving ahead confidently. So maybe making art is just good practice for the art of living.
Two Hoots Creative 