Living A Creative Life
Getting Stuck and Unstuck Along the Way
It’s been a rainy week and I’ve managed to get out with my camera on short walks, but between the rain, heat and humidity I haven’t ventured far. Many of my favorite trails are muddy and slippery right now. So I’ve stayed on blacktopped or paved trails to avoid dealing with the mud.
Yesterday I went out to Carver Park Reserve to make photographs. I had hoped to spend a lot of time photographing the prairie restoration area that I photographed there last year when it was in full bloom. Unfortunately the park staff had mowed most of the prairie restoration area. What were they thinking? I can’t help wondering.
There were a few patches of prairie flowers in bloom under a tree but otherwise everything had been recently mown. So sad.
Seeing the freshly mowed prairie area reminded me of my creative life of late. I have been feeling a little unmoored and unmotivated in my photography lately. And I realized that it’s been a year and a half since I finished creating and publishing my book. Perhaps it’s time to embark on a new project.
Past Creative Projects
The question is, what kind of project? Years ago I spent about a year photographing the hands of artists as they worked. The genesis of this project was my idea that we are all makers and creators. So I began asking artists that I knew if I could photograph them at work. I called the project Makers Hands. Recently I was looking at the images I made for that project and I still love them. They still speak to me.
I also created another project from photos I made while I was staying near Ely, MN. When I had the opportunity to house-sit from March - May for a relative who lived on an acreage along the Burntside River near Ely I jumped at the chance not realizing how long winter persisted in northern Minnesota. Still I got out and hiked and photographed all over the area. The trails were rugged and lonely, often ice-covered and treacherous. I learned to wear micro-spikes on my boots and to text my hiking plans to my husband who was at home in Minneapolis. What I often found in this harsh between-season environment were tiny scenes on the ground that reminded me of wild altars. So that became my project. I photographed as many of these tiny altars as I could. Then, when I returned home a friend of mine composed and created music and I chose my favorite images. Together we created a meditation video called “Wild Altars.” You can see that meditation video HERE.
Three years ago I put together favorite images and essays and created book, Looking for God. That project took almost 18 months to complete. It evolved out of a desire to use Mary Oliver’s poetry with some of my images. When I showed some of my first trial images, a friend in an art group I’m a part of challenged me to use my own words with my images instead of Mary Oliver’s words. Slowly I pulled ideas from past blog posts and the images themselves and put together a book that I ended up calling Looking for God. It was a collection of nature photographs and essays. I only printed 12 copies of the book and gave them to friends and members of my art group. It was an amazing learning experience and kept me focused on growing and improving as a photographer and a writer.
Living life as an artist is a practice.
You are either engaging in the practice
or you’re not.
It makes no sense to say you’re not good at it.
It’s like saying, “I’m not good at being a monk.”
You are either living as a monk or you’re not.
We tend to think of the artist’s work as the output.
The real work of the artist
is a way of being in the world.
― Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being
Where Do Project Ideas Come From?
My previous projects emerged almost organically from my interests and experiences. This year I am taking a year-long online woodland photography class. I’m learning a lot. And trees and woodlands are something I love deeply. But I don’t feel that the work I’m doing in the woodlands is heading in any particular direction — at least, not yet. And I don’t feel that the work I’ve been doing for the class is particularly interesting. Somehow it’s not enough for me to just photograph trees and woods. I want to discover a topic/idea/subject that intrigues and motivates me to learn and explore.
So I’ve taken to journaling about the creative process and reading the wisdom of other creators and artists. Slowly I hope to explore and happen upon a project idea that sings to me. Meanwhile I am grateful for the motivation and new ideas I am taking in from my online woodland photography class.
It seems to me that projects come about in many ways. The first step for me is to set an intention. Taking in lots of ideas from many sources is helpful. Sometimes talking with photographer friends is helpful, sometimes not. I’ve found that in the early stages it’s helpful to throw my net wide. But when I begin to take baby steps towards an idea I need to hold it close for awhile before revealing it to the world. It is all too easy for careless words from someone to squash an idea before it has had time to emerge and grow.
Let people have their opinions. More than that—let people love their opinions, just as you and I are in love with ours. But never delude yourself into believing that you require someone else's blessing (or even their comprehension) in order to make your own creative work. And always remember that people's judgments about you are none of your business.
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
So I begin to cast my net far and wide for project ideas. And to practice patience and persistence while I wait for an idea to emerge.
Wishing you a creative week.
May you walk in beauty.
