What do you do when your inspiration is zero?
After a bottleneck of art events recently and my usual overestimation of my capacity, I found myself burnt out and blue. I knew I needed to do something creative, but the motivation had left me. I was worn out with nothing to give. I needed to stop and refresh, but not just by resting- I needed input too.
I threw the question into the Instagram ether- and the ether responded: playing with collage, art prompts, books, Instagram, classical music.
I decided to start a short ‘programme’ to see me over the worst of the despondency and out the other side. It involved looking at art, making art and being in nature.
This kind of programme doesn’t work so well if you have a deadline looming, but I had the luxury of a few days.
First off, I needed to go and see some art. Yes, the great art and artists, but also smaller local exhibitions. To be inspired by what ‘normal’ artists were making. So I took my annual trip to the RWA Autumn Open Exhibition, but I also sought out small exhibitions and art trails- these are the ones that always inspire me to get making again.
In the evenings, I got out all my art books and pored over them with my favourite music on (also an art form that inspires). And so I slowly built up the art compost in the mind again.
I also decided to start making- though small and easy. No outcomes, no pressure. The way I tend to do this is to get out my box of collage scraps and start playing. This is good because it has constraints, which reduces decision fatigue and it creates easy wins. Just putting colour and shape and texture together in ways that please me. Rediscovering what I like and why I like it.
And, I went back to my endless source of succour and calm- the landscape and nature. Not with any particular sense of wanting to make art about it, but just to be in the ‘grace of wild things’, as the poet Wendell Berry puts it.
I let myself walk and tried not to justify it, tried desperately not to let thoughts of ‘productivity’ and ‘what I should be doing’ enter my head. There should not have to be justification for looking after your body, mind and soul. It’s a necessary thing- like sleep- and should be factored into a working week, if at all possible. And not for a defined outcome either (like ‘to be healthier’) which just feeds into the productivity obsession. Just to be.
So next time you find yourself in a bottleneck or a burnout, find what you need to keep on keeping on- and do it. No justification needed.