The Artist Within Archives – Mirja Vahala Art Studio

Being a Good Painter

12 x 24 acrylic painting by Mirja Vahala

While young, I joined a club track team. Things were very clear cut: you won or you didn’t. For awhile I won, becoming one of the top runners in Canada. Now that I have bragged, what does this have to do with being a good painter?

For one thing, training for hours a day does teach discipline. Secondly, we learned to focus on our strengths, and to improve our weaknesses. However, competition did not teach that it is okay not to cross the finish line first.

Crossing a finish line is great. It is measurable. But how to we quantify ‘success’ with our creativity? So few people get to the top in any field. Also, with social media showing us the global pool of talent, we can be inspired and simultaneously overwhelmed.

In the creative process there is no finish line. As painters we are constantly learning how to paint better. We also know there is always more to learn. These painting challenges keep us interested. Taking on these challenges helps on the path to being a good painter.

Unfortunately, these challenges can also make us feel ‘not good enough’ when we get stuck or have setbacks. Being mindful that this happens to all mere mortals is helpful. So is accepting the fact that gaining painting skills is difficult. And so is focusing on doing our best with our current skills. Plus we can focus on improving. The wonderful thing about being an artist, compared to being an athlete, we can paint from infancy, well, to the second infancy.

Enjoy the Process

Additionally, we can take pleasure in breakthroughs. We can take pleasure in the paintings we like. We can enjoy the process of making something out of nothing. We can remember that our art is valid, whether we have a zillion followers or keep our world smaller. The thing is to take pleasure! Crossing the finish line is a choice—we can choose to meander off the beaten path. Isn’t that more fun than running around in circles anyway? (It is a weird thing to do isn’t it? And I speak from experience.)

How I aspire to being a good painter:

– Getting better
– Being objective
– Being brave in self expression
– Being open and honest
– Obtaining help and feedback
– Learning from artists whose art excites me
– Trying new processes
– Being okay with failed paintings and moving on
– Getting into the studio when the muse is on vacation
– Taking a vacation with the muse
– Exploring variations of colour, value and temperature
– Making great designs
– Walking in the woods
– Creating a painting that is meaningful to someone
– Being humble yet confident
– Knowing that others can teach me something
– Extending a feeling into each painting (more important to me than perfect process)
– Believing that what I do is worthwhile
– Seeing metaphors and similes within paintings
– Being okay when none of the above happens
– Doing things that have nothing to do with painting

And lastly, until that final finish line of life, to simply keep painting as well as possible.

Why creative endeavours are worthwhile.

‘Creativity is where love lies,’ stated Sherry, my good friend, during one of our treks in the mountains. This comment was born after our discussion about the deep enjoyment I feel while artists work at my studio, particularly when I witness a breakthrough. In five words Sherry summed up beautifully why the pursuit of a creative life is worthwhile.

There are so many benefits to the creative pursuit:
It provides continuous learning and challenge.
It holds no barriers to age, race, or gender.
It communicates and connects.
It brings meaning and beauty.
It creates legacies and inspirations.
It provides opportunities for flow states and personal growth.
It can be timeless and transcendent.
It gives the world the gift of your creations.
It adds more depth to daily living.

Rene Brown states in her book Rising Strong, ‘Creativity embeds knowledge so that it can become practice. We move what we’re learning from our heads to our hearts through our hands. We are born makers, and creativity is the ultimate act of integration — it is how we fold our experiences into our being.’

As the year draws to a close, some will be glad to see it’s tail end, others grateful for the good it brought, and some will feel a bit of both. Whatever the happenings in the coming year, creative endeavours will keep our souls afloat on that great sea of our imaginations. Keep sailing my friends.

What’s Your Fuel?

There was the time in younger days when my motivation was fuelled by angst, anxiety, approval seeking and a need to prove myself to some unknown judge. As time marched along, a new drummer arrived with a better sense of rhythm, which squelched the old motivational forces. Following this was a sense of being in no-man’s land: if I wasn’t trying to prove that I was a worthy artist (person, athlete, wife, daughter…), then what juice would get me going — and what exactly did I want to get going on? To move on from there took soul searching and the type of self-honesty that was difficult but worthwhile, much like the artist’s journey of continuous learning.

Here are a few ideas on motivation that worked for me:

Define success. How else do we know if we’ve succeeded?
We need to believe we can reach our goals.
To thwart procrastination, chunking helps (break things down into manageable bits).
Ticking off a to-do list gives a sense of accomplishment.
Early success keeps us going. (Begin with something we can attain.)
It helps to be ‘sticky’ — stick to the effort it takes to reach a goal,
which means we need to have direction and commitment.
Believe we can handle doing what needs to be done.
Have enough of a challenge to feel excited, but not so big as to be intimidated.
Accept that some days things will flow and some days you might as well drop a brick on your head.
Remember why an endeavour is worthwhile. Tap into your core beliefs.
Name the fear which tries to stymie efforts. (Fear of ridicule, success, disappointment, vulnerability and so on.)
There are many ways to reach a goal.
There are times to give up and times to try something else.
Don’t settle on the status quo. It’s boring. Try something new. Experiment.
Be aware of changing values, passions, and interests.
We need support and that’s normal.
It’s important to know that we are aiming for our goals.
Reward accomplishments of any size.
Enjoy the process as much as possible and keep the faith when the fun factor is on holidays.

Ability is what you’re capable of doing.
Motivation determines what you do.
Attitude determines how well you do it.
Lou Holtz

Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal – a commitment to excellence – that will enable you to attain the success you seek.
Mario Andretti

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Do What You Want To Do

The final TV episode of Grace and Frankie was to the point about aging, dying and living big. I loved that these two aging women felt energized and empowered, that they let go of past rules — and constraints — about themselves, and realized that they could do whatever they liked.

Ideas of how we think we are supposed to live our lives can get in the way of our personal greatness, never mind social constraints and fear. Here are some ideas I use to replace ones that no longer function for me, especially as a painter:

When faced head on, fear is a great motivator and instructor.
I will never get it all done, yet I am enough.
There is always room for improvement.
It takes a lot of effort to get good.
Fretting about the past and fearing the future quells motivation.
Light defines darkness and darkness defines light. Both are needed.
Comparing and competition kills creativity.
Breaking the rules and challenging method equals innovation and personal style.
Not even experts know it all — not every ‘right’ is right for everyone.
I have to start to get motivated, not vice versa.
Inclusion and openness to differences creates inner spaciousness.
It’s okay not to enjoy the process, just proceed.
Perfectionism is boring and creates anxiety.
It’s okay to be eclectic.
Don’t hold back. Play big.
I can do whatever I want, and if done within my values, it’s all good.

What unties the knots in your knickers?

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“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” – Marianne Williamson

Nothing is difficult for the man who puts his mind to it. – Nietzsche

Paint Like There’s No Tomorrow

Almost every artist I know has lost their mojo for painting for a period of time. In reading Alla Prima by Richard Schmid, I learned one reason why that might happen. (I know, I often quote Schmid.)

Schmid states: “It is hard to exaggerate the advantages of having a variety of starting techniques at your disposal. Unquestionably, a flexible response to the demands of subject matter and conditions is better than having a single individualistic style of working, however satisfying that may be to the ego. Fidelity to your perception of a subject is the whole point of working from life. …paint what you see…Real life…. presents an incomparable visual banquet, and capturing it faithfully the way you see it can be a stunning experience. To diminish that by subordinating it to a safe and set routine that everyone can recognize as yours makes no sense, and it’s no fun either.”

And no fun either! Finally, I get it. Feeling that we have to follow a set way or set of rules to follow can be stultifying. Why not have a variety of ways of working? When I first began as a full-time painter, I experimented constantly with methods, mediums and ways to approach the canvas. It was definitely fun. Then, over time, I heard messages from galleries, magazine articles and art groups that we are supposed to have a recognizable style to be ‘successful’. (The word ‘successful’ and I don’t like each other very much — what’s it mean anyway? Who decides? And how?) I then spent a few years trying to hone my skills to create a ‘style’. Eventually a feeling of shame came over me. Thoughts that the art I was making was sub-parr, invalid if not liked by the majority or accepted by an art group. My artwork suffered. I painted less. Happily, I decided to punt shame out of my personal soccer field. Then I left the soccer field. Mountain views are much better anyway.

We can choose to play it safe, or copy other artist’s styles, or find a comfortable way of doing things. But what if there is something new, something important, that only you can say through your paintings? We need to do the work, gain our skills, and then release ourselves. Through history artists such as Picasso, Klimt, Chagall and so many others were compelled to new ways. If we allow, their creations open our minds.

If I have anything to pass on, it’s this: Be yourself. Let go of fear, expectations, limitations and extraneous crap. Enjoy the heck out of life and your painterly pursuit. Never try to fit into someone else’s idea of what you should be or do (not even from your art mentor). Don’t waste any more time on the negatives. There is too much to do. Your light is needed in this world. Shine on.

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Mark Twain said it well: Dance like nobody’s watching; love like you’ve never been hurt. Sing like nobody’s listening; live like it’s heaven on earth.
And I say: Paint like there’s no tomorrow. Go team go!