ArtPrize in Progress

This weekend marks the close of ArtPrize and while it has been exhilarating to be at my venue every day talking with hundreds of people about art, dots and creativity, I am equally grateful that we scheduled a brief respite to come home for a few days.

While I do believe this experience will continue to percolate in my mind for a while, I wanted to share a few take-aways to help remember them.

Good things are on the other side of discomfort.

I am a firm believer in listening to your gut and following your instinct as it pertains to your safety and well-being. However, I do want to draw a distinction between danger and discomfort.

Danger is straight-up harmful to yourself or others, while the discomfort I’m referring to is a momentarily difficult or awkward situation.

If we are willing to walk through discomfort, more often than not there is a gem waiting for us on the other side.

For example, in order to help remember this experience I made it a point to take a selfie with every artist I met. Certainly, there were times when it felt awkward to initiate the photo (and I’m sure I looked like a creeper to a few of these folks).

As I look back on my collection of photos, more often than not we shared a lovely conversation and connections were made, none of which would have happened if I kept myself in my comfort zone.

Vulnerability fosters vulnerability.

As a VO artist, it’s not difficult for me to talk about my work. #verbalskills As an actor, it didn’t take long for me to compose a mental script which I followed for most of the people who stopped to look at my work.

However, if someone lingered a bit, I would go a little deeper and share more of my thoughts behind the work. It was amazing how many people would respond by sharing a bit of their story with me.

One man talked about how his father was a watercolor artist and when he died the man made a point to have all of his pieces framed to have on display at the memorial and celebrate who his dad was.

A young woman shared that while some people may think her job as a Walmart greeter isn’t important, she knows she is using her gifts to brighten people’s day.

I lost count of the kids I spoke with who shared how much they loved to create and I got to affirm their enthusiasm and tell them to keep doing what they love because the world needs more artists (while many teary-eyed moms silently watched our exchange).

It’s not always possible, but when we are able to share part of who we are with others, I believe we set the tone for others to open up as well.

Don’t attach value to outcome.

The fact that ArtPrize is a competition, increases the likelihood of getting swept up in all the various attention that your work is or isn’t getting. I’ve had to check myself on more than one occasion as I’ve seen other artists get interviewed or highlighted or favorited. #keepitreal

In those moments, I have to remind myself that none of that attention or those metrics have anything to do with my value or the value of my artwork. Whether or not I get a single vote  shouldn’t take away from my experience of participating in this event and all of the lovely people I have met. Shout out to all my new subscribers! #woohoo

Speaking of subscribers, next week will be the drawing for the FREE 8×10 print of the sea turtle. So stay tuned for that announcement.

Thanks again for letting me drop into your inbox and share my journey of creating with you. Let me know if there is anything else you want me to cover in a future post.

Until next time, keeping creating and connecting!