Julie R. Neidlinger: Lone Prairie Art and Writing

When you don't like art anymore.

written by Julie R. Neidlinger 0 comments link this post

"I realized that I don't like art anymore."

A friend and fellow art major from college wrote that in a recent letter.

The things she described in her letter I understood completely. It has a lot to do with what I was trying to express in a post called "Creative Tools."

The clincher was page five of her letter, where she listed all of the things "they" say artists are supposed to be doing if they are "real" artists:

Get my name out there. Teach as many classes as I can.
Please everyone with my magic ninja art skills.
Feel guilty for not having a "body of work" that is all in the same style and centralized idea.
Feel guilty for not making art when I have free time.
Have a studio even though I don't use it because all arteests have studios.

I know each of these five points -- and more -- intimately. They are five vise grips, squishing me not into the form of a better artist, but a creative person unable to create.

I tried to answer back without being trite but instead, writing what I've learned so far that might help. I said that real art, like real friends, should make you happy. That it had nothing to do with:

Any ideas about "cohesive" "bodies" of "work"; these are just so people can label and categorize you and your art for an art show program without taking up too much space. Cohesive bodies of work often end up being monotonous and leave feelings of déjà vu.
You reasons for not quitting [the art teaching job] are valid and have nothing to do with a lack of courage or even you as a person.
Your personal dignity and your ability as an artist have nothing to do with your job.
Your job is teaching art right now. You are not a "failed artist making a living as a teacher." Your job is as a teacher. You are not your job.
I decided that all lists of what artists are expected to do are crap. You are an artist, so whatever you do is what an artist does. Period.
You'll stop liking art if you think you don't meet the list (described above) or if you confuse your job for who you are.

I also spent the evening drawing, painting, and glueing together a little worksheet to send to her that she might enjoy, and might, along with making her smile, even help. I am offering it to all my creative readers who have ever struggled with these things, whether in your art or writing. I hope you enjoy it and that maybe it helps, in some way, spark your creativity again.

Free Download: Worksheet for creative people who are feeling down on themselves. (PDF)