Shutter Sisters

Pushing Through Creative Blocks

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a gentle day with kinfolk magazine….guaranteed to inspire.

I’ve been hearing a lot lately from creatives who have hit a wall, a dry-patch, a slump, a creative block…. Many say it hits hard in the winter….others for no reason at all. I get it! I’ve been there, done that…. many, many times. My longest block lasted almost 2 years. ‘ugh’…. I mean, seriously…. can you imagine? Thankfully, that was my last major dry spell…and it was almost 3 years ago now!! Woo hooing here!

I have found a little ‘trick’ for knocking down the wall…crushing it…. kicking it to the curb….. before it takes over my creative life.

It’s simply, showing up …. I push through, keep creating…. soon I find my way to the other side of the slump…. re-inspired and fired up again!! I push by changing things up. I focus on learning something new, trying a different technique, pushing my limits…. Or I switch over to something a little dreaded…. like file organization… my weak link…. Or bookkeeping…another weak link or organizing my studio. If that doesn’t work I give myself a gentle day….. a day to relax, regroup…. and just be…. But just one day, maybe 2…. Then I move forward…do the work, make the art…. do.

Let’s talk about inspiration…. slumps, droughts, blocks… How do you push through to the other side? What works for you, what doesn’t? Share with us today.

Comments

  2. I started pushing on that wall really hard about 3-4 years ago. Totally left my comfort zone and connected with a local photography group; totally nerve racking as it really was a “boys club” (at that time). Then I went back to school; hanging with 18, 19 & 20-somethings is very refreshing. Then I dipped my toes for the first time into the world of exhibits; another close-knit group until you prove yourself or, should I say, prove to yourself that you belong. And NOW, I don’t have to look very far . . . just here (thank you!!!) and there.

  4. Art is expression of the heart, the mind, & the soul that always requires "DOING". God created us to be a balance of doing coupled with times of simply "BEING". When we allow the doing to overcome the being we get all out of whack. We come up dry & thirsty. Being always comes before doing. Your doing will never be as profitable, as productive, or as peaceful as it is intended apart from the being phases of life. It is the enemy who comes to shadow us with guilt, fear, & intimidation for taking these times. He would like nothing better than to kill, steal, and destroy all that is good, just, & beautiful that flows from inside you, that part that was planted there while BEING in the presence of your creator. Never forget…the ULTIMATE CREATOR said, "BE STILL………….. & KNOW THAT I AM GOD."

  5. I wish pushing through it helps but usually for me that just makes it worse. I like to focus on something totally different instead. I've been in a slump lately with my knit/crochet. I put those projects away and I've been focusing on spring/deep cleaning my house instead. I deep clean about twice a year and it might sound weird but it seems like it's a cleansing on more than just the literal level, like it clears my head and soul too. And I've been working on making Moo mini-cards for myself with some old photos and that's been really fun. And my vicar asked me a couple weeks ago to take photos for the church events and I'm enjoying that and learning new things about photography through that. So when I'm ready for the yarn again it'll still be there.

  6. As one who is still at the fringes of an almost 3 year long dry-spell I can attest to it being an awful place for a creative soul to be. I agree that the key to getting over is pushing through however my "push" button seems to be broken.

    I also agree that doing "other things" helps. Which is how I found Kim and her Texture Tuesdays.
    It has been an immense help.
    I feel the creative bubbles burbling to the surface.
    May today be the day I can push!

  7. My head says "just get out there and click that shutter" but my heart just isn't in it and I've become so critical of anything I do take that I feel that maybe I just can't do it any more.
    I'm in a bad place with my photography right now and am afraid to try because I'm afraid to fail.
    I keep telling myself that this will pass but the biggest question I have at the moment about any photo I take is "WHY"
    Maybe when I can answer that I will find my way again.
    Thank goodness for Shutter Sisters…they have stopped me from hanging up my camera for ever, the daily blog keeps a spark of hope alive in me.

  8. this is so me right now! so nice to know i'm not the only one, and how odd that is. and i'm doing exactly what you've done. i'm giving myself a break. i'm making things for myself. i'm focusing on new skills (photography) and things i've never done before. it's the freedom i'm craving. and the pressure of making things to sell that is squelching that freedom. it's newness i crave, and i feel it's right around the corner!

  10. great post kim! indeed, just showing up and doing the work helps a lot.
    i started a 365 nature blog in december 2010 and sometimes i just hated the idea of having to take a picture, but somehow i always found something interesting to capture. and after a couple of dreary days with only one or two moderately successful images there always came a morning that had me rush home with the most brilliant and colorful shots.
    http://kagerzoom.blogspot.com
    last year i started a daily snapshot blog and sometimes i cannot come up with anything even remotely interesting enough to publish. but still i always pick some shot in the end…. and find something to say about it lol. it always helps me through those frustrating blank spaces where nothing seems to click, and then the next morning i look at my blog and think: wow, this is really good…
    http://kiekjevandedag.blogspot.com
    and trying out something new also helps. i remember once being so bored with the usual nature stuff that i photographed the crumpled and mottled remains of a plastic bag lying in the grass for a week until a storm blew it away…..
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/rakusribut/sets/72157627843456252/
    what definitely doesn't help me when i feel so uncreative and critical of my work is looking at other people's photographs and comparing them to my own….. i have learned not to do that because it always makes me feel completely inadequate…it's a kind of self-torture.
    the best time for me to look at other people's work is when i feel really good and confident about myself and am open to the lessons others can teach me. then i can draw on their creativity and depth to develop new directions for my own photographic journey.

  11. I try and make sure to take at least one photo every day. Or more, anything and everything that strikes my fancy, I'll take a photo of it. That's what I do to keep myself from getting burned out. Now, I have to figure out how to apply that to editing photos on Photoshop 🙂 Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather 🙂

  12. I definitely have to do . . .to work at creating something . . .even though my head is full of "that's rubbish" thoughts". I try never to delete anything when I'm going through that "phase" because I have come back days later looked at what I produced and thought "actually . .I like it".
    If I don't "do" I never seem to get through it. . . .I hate being in that place . . .yuk . . .but each time I come through it I get a little more confidence the next time it happens.
    Teresa 🙂 x

  13. That block thing doesn't happen to me often (well, actually, I can't remember if it ever did) because I have a long list of images/ideas, logged deep in my mind, just waiting for my attention. I'm not sure how those images get inside me, they just sort of pop in, out of the blue, when I'm working out, particularly in a spin class, in the shower, passing a storefront window, strolling through a flea market, watching children play or listening to their conversations, reading poetry, or listening, by myself to jazz. Besides that invisible image list, I also have a corresponding list of props. I scout for them regularly. Then, when the idea and the prop match, I'm in business. There is always something waiting for me.

    I used the same tactic when I was writing books, magazines & newspaper articles. Having to produce a column, once a week, for a major Canadian newspaper, taught me how to visualize, look for ideas, listen, consider topics and make mental lists. Never once did I ever get into a panic because I did not have an idea for a column or article. I used to say, when people asked where my ideas come from, I have no idea….the only thing I know for sure is that my ideas have ideas…one nurtures another, nurtures another, and so it goes. Sometimes, when I was waiting for my kids during their piano lessons or hockey games, I played a mental game with myself… how many ideas, for future articles, can I jot down in the next three minutes. They too, were also sources I checked before I hit the typewriter or computer keys.

    If truth be told, I have so many ideas on the back burner now, I'm frustrated because I don't have time to explore them all. But I know they are waiting patiently for their turn.

    When others have talked about this block thing I encourage them to get out there and associate with creative people of all genres. Writers, painters, designers ….people who think creatively for a living, people who are looking to do something new. Listen carefully to them. Look at the fire in their eyes, the way that they gesture with their hands, their body language. Being with creative people makes people more creative. (Oh my goodness, I think i just created a good quote for Kim's list!!! How come I never wrote or thought of that before? So there you go. I hope this helps. it sure works for me.
    Hyla Fox
    www,hylafox.com http://www.hylafox.com/blog