Lessons learned in 2010: Lesson 2

'A Creative Companion' by SARK

The second lesson I learned this year is one that I’ll be reminding myself of forever. It is important not only to my creative life, but life in the ‘real world’ as well. I have to learn to enjoy the process & understand that with everything there is a learning curve. Some are just a bit steeper than others. If I were to mention this to my mother, she would quite smugly report that I have been this way my whole life. If I try something new & do not figure it out very quickly, I become extremely frustrated.

More than 15 years ago, I changed my major from art to psychology when I was halfway through the upper-level classes in college. I had the opportunity to take 3 drawing classes, 3 design classes, printmaking, ceramics, technical skills for the designer, computer graphics & 1 painting class. I also took a painting class at the Arkansas Art Center a couple of years ago. What this means is that I know just enough about most art supplies to be dangerous. I attribute part of this problem to my life-long issue with expecting a first effort at anything to go well (even though it often doesn’t). I also attribute a bit of it to changing my major just when I was getting to the fun stuff & part of it to my poor memory.

I understand that there are completely self-taught artists who have never had an organized art class & who can pick up a new medium & learn it patiently. I am in awe of them & hope to be like them when I grow up.

Some of the new-to-me-mediums & products I worked with in 2010 include air-dry clay, gel mediums for mixed media projects, metal tape & alcohol ink.

This year I learned that the only way I will discover anything new (art-wise & otherwise) will be to enjoy the process, or at least accept that there will be a learning curve.