Stop. Start. Continue.
I have been thinking about these words, or rather this process lately. For those unfamiliar, they represent a way to analyze your life, your company, or your art practice. One asks “What should I stop doing? What should I start doing? What should I continue doing?”
As an artist who does mixed media – which means I love many creative processes, tools, mediums and so on – it’s often hard to narrow down and focus on what I want to do and what direction I want to take. I don’t want you to think I jump from project to project (okay, sometimes I do), but at my creative core, I feel I love exploration and experimentation, so I am drawn to many things. This can be good, or even great, at times. Yet, sometimes I need to re-evaluate. The fall has that feeling of a “new year” – maybe it’s the kids are back in school, summer is done, and we are thinking about what comes next. Late summer and early fall has been a busy season, so it feels like the right time for reflection.
Stop. Start. Continue. These three little words can be very useful in the sense that I can use them to dig into my motivations when I want to narrow and focus a bit. And leads me to what actions to take (or not take, in the case of stopping something.)
Also, it should be noted here that it is not useful to take others’ feedback into account. Free advice is always flowing from friends, family, other artists – you could do this, you ought to try that – all kinds of comments. However well-meaning others are, as an artist, I must decide where I would like to put my own energies and what feeds me specifically.
Additionally, in my opinion, your sales should not be a large factor in this analysis. It’s easy to say I sold 3 pink abstracts; I should make more pink abstracts. Then you make 100 pink abstracts, sell none, and you lose your creative way.
Often, we look toward teachers and workshop leaders as models and guides. However, each of those artists and teachers has their own perspective, style and accomplishments. What they think you should do is not necessarily the direction you want to pursue.
Trends and social media influencers are another area that can lead one astray. Art has trends just like design, illustration, and fashion. Other artists on social media are interesting to look at and follow, yet they are like teachers and leaders, they have their own path. Following others makes you one of the pack, not your own unique creative being.
This is the simple process – and it requires looking inside oneself – sit down with pencil and paper with three categories written at the top – Stop. Start. Continue. List out what you are doing and what you want to Stop, Start, Continue. And make your own unique plan!
Be well and keep creating,
Colleen
PS. If you Google “Stop Start Continue” there are lots of templates and guides available!