Make Everyday Your Masterpiece

Make Everyday Your Masterpiece

Roy Lichtenstein: Brushstroke Still Life with Lamp, 1997 Screen-printed oil based enamel ink and hand-painted magna on a honey comb-core aluminum panel in artist’s wooden frame. 49 1/2 × 68 in. (125.7 × 172.7 cm)

By Doug Farrick

I wanted to discuss a bit about creating a masterpiece but a masterpiece of a different kind. I’m referring to your creativity. I have been thinking quite a lot about what legendary college basketball’s coach John Wooden was often fond of saying:

“Make everyday your masterpiece.”

Of course, there is the play on the word masterpiece but it goes a lot deeper than that. For me, it’s about focus. It’s about making today (which is made up of a bunch of tiny moments) the ONLY thing we focus on.

Too many times (And I am MOST definitely included in this group) we always seem to be waiting – to be in a holding pattern for something to come along or happen. We’re waiting until we acquire more skills or have more confidence or can find some extra money or make just a few more social network contacts who will expose the greatness in us.

And a lot of this is never really conscious it really just a record groove or pattern that we have gotten used to. And patterns can be changed – that’s the good news.

But back to making every day your masterpiece. I encourage you to play around with this thought. In everything you do (and certainly in your art) stay present. Don’t worry about “The Future” just this day.

Focusing and worrying about the future is so ingrained in so many people that it is hard to see for yourself. You don’t even know your doing it.

For me, I had a coach help me through this (which is a great way to really make serious progress in your life) but there are other ways as well, like: monitoring and heightening your awareness where you will soon be able to catch glimpses of where your thoughts habitually “live.”

Say to yourself “Just for today I am going to go all out. I am going to bring everything to bear on this (in this example) work of art. I will leave nothing behind. All will be revealed. Today is the best I will ever have”

You will be creative in all aspects of your day. It won’t be a flatline line existence. You will rise up and above with creative thinking and action. The focus will be creating (not reacting) all day long.

How often do we actually do that? I dare say – not much. But it’s a practice. Something to do regularly. For me, anyway, this was a true mindshift. What it did was allow me to slow down and really focus on a few things. My productivity and energy really skyrocketed as I was no longer diffusing my energy but focusing it with laser-like precision.

It’s just one day. You are born in the morning and you pass away at night. That’s it. Today (and only today) is your opportunity for the greatness IN you.

Featured Artist: Doug Farrick




Doug Farrick is an artist, entrepreneur, creative coach and a specialist in small business development. He has started and sold a number of online businesses, including FreshDesign (a web design/development company) the Designer's Inner Circle (an online membership site for graphic designers) and GolfDash (on online golf directory) among others.
Doug's latest venture is the Art Marketing Association, which will be a online resource center for artists, photographers and other creatives to assist them in making more money with their art and manage their careers more effectively. Recently, Doug wrote, shot, produced and edited his first DVD called, An Introductory Guide to: Oil Painting Tools and Supplies.
 
Doug's blog, DougFarrick.com is meant to share his passion of art. It includes posts on marketing for artists, creativity, art reviews, art and business, technology and much more.

5 Ways to Get Creative Juices Flowing

Whether you are a writer, a painter or a creative person of any sort, there’s nothing more intimidating than staring at a blank canvas. At times, it feels daunting and can even cause anxiety. After all, a step in any direction is the first step down a creative pathway…

…and what if it’s the wrong path?

This fear of the unknown tends to guide us into safer waters. The familiar feels non-threatening and sometimes, it just feels rut… I mean right.

So, how do you force yourself to venture into new creative spaces to get out of a creative rut? The easiest way is to flood your brain with new fodder. With these five brainstorm techniques, you’ll get the creative juices flowing again and break out of your creative comfort zone.


1. Create An Inspiration File

• This is one of the most common brainstorm techniques for most artists, and if you aren’t already doing this you should. It’s easy to do and even easier to maintain. All you need to start is some place to keep images that inspire you.

• It can be a moleskin sketch book, an accordion file or a file on your computer. Every time you find something that inspires you or intrigues you throw it in your inspiration file.

• When you’re getting ready to brainstorm new ideas, pull out your artistic inspiration file and go to town. Reorganize it based on different criteria, such as color, or content or style.

• Look for ideas in how these images fall together. Pick one image and make up a story about it. What happens next? Paint or draw the next part of the story.


2. Draw The Dictionary

• A dictionary isn’t just a tool for a writer. It’s a wonderful brainstorm tool for anyone.

• After all, it contains every word in the English language, so you won’t find a broader source of inspiration.

• Flip to a random page and pick a random word. Repeat. Repeat again.

• Eventually, you’ll start building a list of random words. Do any of them naturally fit together? Do they draw create an image in your mind? What do they have in common?


3. Forced Association

• In a way, forced association is related to an activity for which you might use your inspiration file.

• To start you’ll need a couple of different categories of content. It could be images, words or a combination of the two. To create these categories, you can base them on your subject matter, your medium, the emotion you want to convey, etc.

• Now, select one image or word from each of your categories and force a connection between them. How are they related or similar? If you combine them, what do they make? The strength of the relationship isn’t important. It’s more important to find some sort of connection.

• In no time, you’ll find a pair that seems to be a natural fit and sends your creative energy in some new and unique direction.


4. Stream Of Consciousness Writing

• Another writing exercise? Absolutely. Once again, this is a time-tested method of finding a unique creative concept.

• Start with one simple question. What do you want to create? A still life. A sculpture of a man playing the bagpipes.

• A sweater embroidered with a likeness of Elvis. Whatever strikes your fancy. Next, give yourself a time limit that’s at least 5 minutes long.

• Now write. Will it be fat Elvis or thin Elvis? What kind of jumpsuit is he wearing? What’s he got in his hands? A microphone and a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich.

• When the time expires, put your pen down and create what you’ve just written about.


5. Meditation / Do Something else

• As the old saying goes, “A watched pot never boils,” so stop waiting for inspiration to strike.

• Your brain is a marvelous multi-tasking machine, so go do something else. Ideally, you should pick something monotonous like mowing the lawn or washing the dishes.

• Once your mind starts to wander, you’ll be surprised how quickly it will start generating ideas.

• The trick is to record them as soon as they pop up, so you don’t forget them.

After trying some of the steps above, you’ll start accomplishing more than just staring at a blank canvas!

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Special Thanks to artist Lori McNee for inspiration and insight!
This article was originally published on www.FineArtTips.com.


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Another wonderful source of inspiration and information is the book, The Sound of Paper, by Julia Cameron, see an older posting for more information.