I’ve continued to think about the comment my Mum made about me ‘not working.’ Some things people say just get inside you and won’t go away – you need time to mull them over and process them. And some things that are said just make you want to stop, to think and reflect on what’s going on all around you. I’m sure my decision to apply the brakes this past week and allocate myself some time off from the studio is related.
Consequently, I’ve had the space and time to notice that today marks the first year of me writing a blog, here on Artists Talking. Not of any real significance to anyone but myself, I know, but I’m beginning to realise how important documenting the various aspects of my work is – and this blog is as good a place as any for doing just that. It’s a good reference point for recording what works and what doesn’t and a sound indicator of whether or not (and how) creative practice of any sort is developing.
Certain anniversaries feel important to acknowledge and never more so than when there’s cause for celebration. Starting a blog on Artists Talking felt like a big deal for me, being naturally quite shy and a fairly private person. But I was hugely inspired by listening to the experiences of established Artists Talking bloggers who Andrew Bryant (on-line editor) gathered together last summer to speak about the advantages of maintaining a blog. Artists Jane Boyer, Aliceson Carter, Rosalind Davis, Alex Pearl, Emily Speed and Rob Turner presented an extremely positive picture and through listening to them, I felt motivated and able to make an informed decision. I published my first ever blog post a few weeks later.
Once I started the process and realised that other artists/bloggers were reading and connecting, the writing came naturally and the on-line conversation exchanges encouraged me to keep going.
There is a diverse community of artists using the blogs in a diverse number of ways on Artists Talking. It means there’s always something fresh and exciting being written about and I’ve really enjoyed (and still am enjoying) being a part of a stimulating, creative community.
I had no real idea how it would turn out when I first took the decision to blog but I’ve made no secret of the many things I’ve gained from doing so ever since. And I’ve started to think about the writing itself more as an integral part of my practice rather than a separate entity; my practice it seems can be enhanced through it, in a more in-depth, positive and constructive way than I could ever have imagined; the benefits can be huge.
Something I wrote in the conclusion to ending my first blog ‘Keeping It Together’ sums up perfectly for me what the past year’s blog writing has been about:
… there’s a vulnerability within all of us, a deep desire to be accepted – to be heard, to feel needed and to feel included. Encouragement and empathetic understanding from like-minded artists is invaluable; it’s what all of us at some point or other crave and need in order to flourish as creative people.
And so, as I’ve gravitated towards artists who – whether through their website, their blog, their tweets or simply through their presence – have been happy to share a little of themselves, my contacts and support systems have grown. These artists have also invariably been generous, not just in sharing their own work but also in contributing their thoughts and offering support to others.’
Being an artist is not always easy but the mutual exchange of ideas and sentiments and the ongoing mutual support shared on Artists Talking over the past year has introduced me to a whole new way of communicating. And rather like the studio, the blog acts as a psychological space, a place to bear in mind, a space to contain the whole host of feelings associated with being creative – even when you’re not physically engaged in it.
And so, on November 20th 2012, I’m acknowledging a year’s anniversary of blog writing. My thoughts keep flitting back to what my Mum said… but more of that another time, I’m sure.
