This is a page I completed recently, and it’s called, “Don’t Stop Moving…or You’ll Rust!”
The page was inspired by one of the many beautiful photographs included in my friend and fellow artist Kim Rae Nugent’s new book, Journal Starters Sampler Volume I, which is now available for purchase at Amazon.com.
I believe the words of this piece offer a great reminder for all creative people. While sometimes it feels safe and comfortable to keep on doing what’s known and familiar, an artist’s life must be one of constant change and evolution. When we fall back into the security of old patterns in our life and art, we run the risk of getting bored, growing stagnant, and going nowhere. If we don’t try new things, we can’t develop beyond what we are, or make improvements.
Everyone prefers to feel safe and comfortable. Everyone likes to feel perfectly competent at what they do at all times. But we can’t enter new places or become more if we don’t dare to travel outside that comfort zone and explore new frontiers.
In recent months I’ve been forced to confront a lot of fear and self-doubt as I’ve started using new tools and techniques in my art and taken on new challenges, especially when it comes to putting my work “out there,” in publications and even here on this blog. Each time I do these things, I wonder if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew, or if I will end up hitting a wall. Whenever I feel this way, I remind myself that because I’m trying something new and not doing the same thing I was doing a year ago, or six months ago, that I’m already successful.
This page was created with old book pages, gesso, acrylic paint, spray inks, stencils, Washi tape, rub-ons, a vintage Dymo label, letter stickers, text produced on a vintage typewriter, and pens.
Here’s to staying in motion and staying fresh! Be sure to do something new in the week ahead!
Starting Over Studio 
Beautiful work and an inspirational message! Thank you. 💜
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much Laura! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oooh this is lush! Those colours! I really enjoy art that you can get lost in, explore the layers and levels, and this is just such a thing! I really get the ‘bitten off too much’ quandary – but we gotta keep raising the stakes, right? (or rust!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks so much! And yes, it’s so true–if we don’t raise the stakes and take a greater risk, we have no chance of reaping a greater reward. 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well said! I love how full your pages are, you have talent for making the entire page interesting, right to the very edges. As a photographer, this is something that isn’t always easy to pull off. And as for trying new things, I’m all for that, it doesn’t always work out, but the more we try, the better it gets.
Keep up the great work.
John
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks John! 🙂 Pushing the elements to the edges was something I’d been pushed to explore in my graphic design studies. In the past I tended to place all the emphasis on the focal imagery in a layout, whereas now I tend to view the edges as equally important to the overall look. 🙂
LikeLike
You’re welcome, Jenny. It certainly works! Your work is full, interesting and diverse. Great stuff
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, John! 🙂
LikeLike
This is a fantastic post!! Love your art. I understand exactly how you feel. It took me a year and a half to write my first post on my blog. Putting yourself out into the world was so scary!! As Dory said in the movie “Finding Nemo” Just Keep Swimming…. Thank you for sharing this wonderful post.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Jade!! Sounds like we’ve had a lot of similar experiences. Coming back to blogging after an absence of nearly three years was very daunting. I purchased this new site address back in July, but it took me all the way until November to dive back in and actually post something. We as artists often feel compelled to put our work out there for others to see–and yet at the same time, much of the inspiration behind it is so personal and private that we’re tempted to hold back and hide it. It’s a difficult balance all the time, but I think we’re always better off for sharing. We gain so much confidence from letting it go out into the world, and we learn so much from seeing the work of others. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I agree, we have had some very similar experiences. One other thing I have learned about putting yourself out there that I didntt know before was… I may have an art journal page that I didn’t liked and I put it out into the world and someone liked it. I was so shocked!! I thought everyone would look at my page and think it was terrible just like I thought. I was so wrong! Its wonderful that everyone has very different tastes and points of view. I have learned a lot from this experience and hope to continue growing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is 100% true…we are often our own worst critics. What we may not like or feel reluctant to share may be just what someone else needed to see on that day. 🙂
LikeLike