reflections on the creative process

I was reading The Creative License this morning and got to the part about resistance. This is something I've had LOTS of experience with! My friend Dawn and I were talking about it the other day, and between our conversation and Danny Gregory's book, I got some reminders.

First of all, for me, I absolutely focus on product more than process. That is not a good thing. I worry about "ruining" a piece I'm working on, and it holds me back from really letting go. Drawing is the same; unless I can get a great drawing, I'm not interested. I'm more interested in the outcome, not in what I'm doing in the moment. I feel bored sometimes when I draw, and we all know that boredom is a cover for all sorts of things; anger and fear being the big two. I'd have to go with fear in this case. I realized there's no way in HE-double hockey sticks I'm going to draw out in public right now. People are going to want to look at what I'm doing...horrors!!

On my upcoming trip to France I'll be bringing a journal, watercolors, and pens, and I plan on drawing wherever, whenever, there. Maybe it seems less intimidating because I won't know people there or speak their language, so if they think my drawings suck, they can say so without me understanding them!

Anyway, in other news I just faxed an application to a yarn shop here in Phoenix called Jessica Knits. It's a fabulous shop; I absolutely love to go there, and they're looking for people to work part or full-time. So I threw my name in the hat. We'll see what comes of it.