TL,DR: Watch the vlog post here
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I have art currently displayed at:
The Artworks Gallery in Austin, TX as part of the Central Texas Pastel Society‘s Annual Exhibit and Competition
The Kendall Art Gallery in San Angelo Texas as part of the San Angelo Art Club Exhibit and Competition
I also have art displayed in the Green Room at Putters and Gutters, although it’s only visible (and available to purchase!) to the visiting concert musicians.
This Week in the Studio
I looked up this morning while pondering that many things that are on my to do list and realized that there is a Pterodactyl currently residing in my studio. No wonder I’ve been feeling nervous! hahaha just kidding.
Maybe he needs a name?
This week I’ve been trying to focus on completing commissions, along with family responsibility interruptions and a trip to San Angelo to enter two paintings into the show there at the Kendall Art Gallery. That’s a whole-day round trip, but I did get to spend it with my art buddy Kathy (Kathleen Meador Fine Art ) and eat lunch with my great nephew at Angelo State University.
It’s felt a little stressful, honestly. I always over schedule myself if I’m not very, very careful. But then again, it’s impossible to plan those things like family responsibilities that come up. So it is what it is, and my prayer has been that I would rely on the Lord instead of on trying so hard to calm my stress in other ways.
I’m really looking forward to my trip tomorrow to Frisco Texas, near Dallas, to see my middle daughter, Rosie. We haven’t seen each other in …I don’t know how long. At least a year, I think. She is a Flight Attendant and therefore has a schedule that’s virtually impossible to work around, and right now she can’t be far from home in case they call her in. But finally we have a few days guaranteed that I can go up to see them!
Some of the commissions were mugs she’ll be gifting for Christmas. I also fired a platter that was supposed to be a wedding gift for a shower next week. Usually I give myself plenty of lead time, but this one came up and my friend and client wasn’t too worried about getting the platter in time for the actual shower.
Which is a good thing. Because the results from the kiln this week were disappointing.
What to do with Disappointing Results
In art you MUST get used to disappointing results. It’s a thing to be expected. Why?
- Because you must be BAD to get GOOD
Getting good at art requires that you keep making bad art for a long time. It won’t all be perfect or fabulous the first time you make something. Somehow people have got the idea that this is an indication of “talent” (whatever that is), when someone makes something marvelous the very first time they pick up a pencil or paintbrush or a lump of clay.
I’ve got news for you. That doesn’t happen. And IF it did, then that person could STILL improve if they continued to create.
Perfectionism Can Be Toxic
An adult piano student last week informed me before her lesson that she was really struggling to play her assigned piece. Then, as so often happens, she played it for me and ACED it.
I looked at her and said “I thought you said you were having trouble with this?”
She raised her eyebrows and replied something like “Well, yes! I just can’t get it.”
“You just played it fabulously. The beat pattern was strong, there were few hesitations, you even included the dynamics. You’re doing great. Why did you think you weren’t getting it?” I asked.
Sheepishly, she answered “I guess it’s my perfectionism.”
Yes, my friend. And that stuff is TOXIC. Get rid of it. Embrace being bad so that you can get good.
And so when I opened my kiln on Wednesday afternoon I had to remind myself of the same thing. The platter was warped, cracked, and the wrong color, and the texture had been obscured by the glaze I chose.
One beautiful mug had a bad glaze run–fortunately I’ve learned how to grind things down.
Another had such awful glaze results…after asking around all the experts I have contact with, no one really seems to understand why that happened (can I just say that ceramics is a never-ending roulette of variables? Very few of which I am in control?)
Other results weren’t bad, exactly, but they weren’t as expected.
The only way to get better at something is to make mistakes and learn from them.
- Mistakes and unexpected results are your BEST TEACHERS.
So, my magical unicorns, this week get busy and make some disappointing results. And then do it again, and again.
Therein lies the magic.
By the way, that same student posted a video yesterday of herself playing her assigned piece for this week. She even included a few stumbles! But it was AMAZING and it was obvious she was REALLY ENJOYING the music.
I was so proud for her!
As you make mistakes and get disappointing results this week, I know you will be learning to…
see the music, hear the colors, touch the magic, and awakening the wonder and worship in your hearts.
Godspeed, magical friends.
2 thoughts on “Pterodactyls in the Studio and What To Do With Disappointing Results”
Nice job on commenting on disappointments.
Mistakes are the best way to learn!