A Block and a Breakthrough: 1008 Paintings Project Update #7

Trimming 200+ paintings = not fun.

Measure Twice, Cut Once

Let the above photo illustrate the intuitive creative mind at work.

(For those of you creatives who work with precision and measure things, you can sit back and have a good laugh.)

What Happened?

Ever since I moved to Oaxaca for an extended stay, my 1008 Paintings Project has just not had the big thrill it had when I was really cooking on it in December. I found myself not working on it much, and feeling just…stuck.

I did work a bit, in fits and starts, but something was bugging me and I couldn’t figure it out. I especially couldn’t figure it out in a time frame that was acceptable to me (like, yesterday) which just proved to make me feel more stuck.

My boyfriend, Juan, patiently listened to me on our nightly Skype calls where I reported doing not much with the project and feeling crappy about it. One night, I was really quite bummed out about it, and he said something along the lines of:

“Well, why don’t you just quit, then? Rename the project 108 Paintings and be done with it.”

That just made me feel worse, because I knew that giving up was not the answer. When I was done crying about it ready to brainstorm further, we talked about the two major reasons we get blocked on a creative project:

1. There is some kind of flaw with the project. Could be some kind of technical issue that needs to be addressed.

2. Our inner critic has taken over and is finding every reason under the sun why there is something wrong with us, or our creation, or both, and we might as well just quit. By the way, this voice is very often quiet, and speaks in reasonable tones, pointing out valid reasons why we have better things to do. More often, we don’t hear a voice at all, just have a vague feeling of angst or depression and can’t figure out why.

The next day, after meditating in my studio, I sat there gazing at a stack of paintings, wondering how I could possibly hang them on the wall so I could see them all at once. Then I remembered that I bought these plastic sleeves at the office supply to store them in once they were scanned and cataloged.

Why not hang them in the wall, right in the plastic sleeves? This would keep the dust out and solve the problem of not knowing exactly how the cardboard supports are going to be mounted.

When I realized the paintings fit perfectly in the sleeves, I suddenly had a burst of energy to get them all scanned at cataloged at hung on the wall.

Except…only the first few fit. All the rest were cut about 2-3mm or 1/8″ larger. And not cut well.

This was my fault, as I had my studio assistant cut the cardboard based on some imprecise (and always changing) template of whatever painting happened to be closest to her cutting area. I actually didn’t want the boards cut perfectly, I wanted them to be a bit more organic in shape.

Organic yes. Misshapen and trapezoidal, no. I wondered how in the hell I hadn’t noticed this before.

The good news: I realized my block wasn’t (this time) an inner critic thing. It was a technical issue that needed to be addressed. Once I knew what needed to be done next—trim about 210 paintings, plus the other 200 boards we already prepped for painting—I was back in business. Excited about the project again.

Now I’m alternating between trimming and scanning the trimmed pieces. Scanning is working so much better than photographing them. Thanks to a reader here who left that suggestion in the comments on an earlier update. Not knowing how to best easily and quickly capture and catalog the images, and also display them in my workplace, are two more technical issues that stalled my whole creative process.

I’m doing all of this work myself, as I don’t yet have an assistant here in Oaxaca.

If only Candy, the cutie-pie schnauzer who lives next door, could wield a box-cutter. That’s her peeking in the window. She comes over every morning the minute I open my curtains to see what I’m up to. I call her the supervisor.

If You’re Blocked on a Creative Project

Consider the above two common reasons for being blocked, and see what floats to the surface. I recommend taking some long walks and getting good sleep. It allows the conscious mind to be more receptive to something new. Juan encouraged me to get back to daily walks, and I culled this gem from my my notes:

Zen Quote from Juan

Whenever you give yourself a little bit of space, a little bit of compassion, you enter this other dimension of creativity and peace that flows with it’s own rhythm.

Consider Quitting.

Something else that helped me break through this particular block was letting myself really think about quitting, or changing the goal. Remember that reverse psychology stuff? Juan said he egged me on about quitting, not to frustrate me, but to help me realize that if I wasn’t going to quit, then what?

Find a Dog

I love that Candy is always interested in my work. At least that’s what I imagine. What if we took that same kind of interest and curiosity that dogs have to our creative dilemmas? They certainly will always beg us to go for those long, meandering walks…how smart is that?

Related posts:

1. Disorientation: 1008 Paintings Project Update #4
2. A Day (12 days, actually) in the Life: 1008 Paintings Project Update #13
3. Creativity as Teacher: 1008 Paintings Project Update #11
4. The Halfway Point:1008 Paintings Project Update #14
5. 1008 Paintings Project Update #2