Friday, August 3, 2012

Creative Wisdom: Time for Art


"Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen." ~Epictetus


Time is precious: It's summertime and the kids are all home. Time is at a premium. I keep reminding myself that I started this career as an artist when I had infants and I really did get a lot accomplished in five minute increments. I keep hearing about how creativity needs time. I keep thinking I don't have time to get anything done. Hogwash!

"People ask me how long it took to make a work. I reply by giving them my age." ~Ted Godwin


You can eat an elephant one bite at a time: I could make excuses all day about not having time to get into the flow or I could get down to business and DO something. It's amazing how those five minutes here and there add up.

Are you making excuses too? Let's do this. Keep a hand-work project nearby. Sew a few patches together. Pick up your sketchbook and draw your hand or a flower or your lunch. Set a timer for five minutes and grab a glue stick and some fabric scraps and play with one of the elements of art. 

2 comments:

Lisa Chin said...

Amen! I have been wasting a lot of time this summer - and not in a good way - time to get back on track.

Chara Michele said...

Lyric, I loved this post! Thank you :) Totally what I have been thinking these past couple weeks, since summer gets so busy... I actually managed to finish a project just by working on it in little intervals recently & this is a great reminder :)