"No Creative Block Here: How I Stay Inspired and Create Without Limits"

Do you prefer to work on a single project at a time, or do you have multiple projects in progress simultaneously?

I tend to produce works like a production line and that has come to be my preference.  I’ll add some context..

I have a natural rhythm to living, although I’ll add that if I was a full time working artist it would probably change in a handful of ways. My current rhythm follows the seasons.  Right now, during winter, I’m exploring new ideas, flushing out concepts and designing new works for the year ahead.  As well, I’m working on updating all the background stuff. As we transition into the spring and warmer weather I move over into painting and production mode.  I am a warm weather person and nothing is better than hanging out on a sunny day with the studio doors open, some jazz on in the background and nothing on the schedule for the day but painting. It can be a challenge during this time though. In both spring and summer I’ve got a ton of work I want to produce but that also has to share time with many other things. I have a family and all the different things they have going on, events, get togethers, house projects, summer holidays, time off for vacations, and I am still working a full time job through it all.  Now throw on top of that preparing for some art shows and it can just be a lot to manage. By the time fall rolls around I’m ready to draw back and detach from the “working” for a while. I’ve learned that this rhythm is a very positive thing for me.  It allows me time to slow down, rest and be present once again.  I can let go of everything I was attached to, draw back inward, explore new subjects, go on all the cold dark night walks I want, and allow God to speak to me about the coming year ahead. It is a time of regeneration and rebirth.  Winter sets in again and the inspiration begins to flow once more.

What challenges do you typically face when creating a new work?  How do you overcome creative blocks?   

Great questions.  I’d clarify that creating new work in the context I’m speaking of isn’t creating a new piece or two. For me it would be creating a new style or expression that wasn’t there before.  In regard to doing that, good heavens it is a grueling endeavor.  Being as process driven as I am, my brain naturally thinks of it as a manufacturing product.  Not only are we creating a new product out of thin air, we are creating an entirely new process for producing that product with regularity, every single time.  It is easy to haphazardly produce something, but to capture the formula for repeating something is a whole different animal.  I have zero problem envisioning something, I’ve got a vibrant imagination.  As well, I’ve got a well developed collection of skill sets to produce amazing work.  Yet, at times that place in between seems to elude me and it feels like pulling teeth to get it all out.

In regard to creative blocks, I find myself trying to be as humble as I can be when I talk about it.  I don’t suffer from it like others do.  There’s no shortage of topics to explore, stories to tell, and inspirations to enjoy all around me.  It just doesn’t effect me or pacify me like it does others.  There is just so much to be mentally stimulated by that I get excited about it all. I tend to feel guilty talking with artists who do and then I feel like it comes across like I’m bragging about it.  I just feel very blessed and that’s how I would prefer it come across.

How do you know when a piece is finished?

Gosh, I spent YEARS learning how to finish a piece.  In my graffiti days there were so many “morning after” flicks where I was studying the piece from the day before and something didn’t sit right.  I either did one detail too many and the whole thing looked too busy, or I should have added one more detail and the piece would have jumped off. It is a very thin line between those two and again it took years and years of refinement for me to find it.  I have come to understand my process so well that I just know that place and when I find myself there I can call it.