A few days ago, in the midst of struggling with this print, P.flashed me the flap of a dust jacket on the book he was reading. There, poised and distinguished looking beamed a photo of Robert Pinsky. “You met him once, didn’t you?” he asked. Indeed, many years ago he visited my college poetry class – way before he was the famous Poet Laureate. He was an incredible inspiration to me that I went home and wrote one of the best poems I ever wrote – you see, at the time, I wanted to be a poet. But I never became a successful poet. It was just another dream that I gave up in frustration. It was just too hard.
And that thought reminded me of the screen-saver message that David used to have on the computer – “If it were easy, everyone would do it.” It scrolled like a mantra across the desktop. I suppose it helped him focus on his dreams.
So what to do about getting frustrated? I know that I don’t want to keep giving up on my dreams. I really want to become a successful printmaker. I want to be able to weather the struggles and come out on the peaceful water at the other end.
So here are some of the ways that I use to cope with frustration. I would be interested in hearing from other artists about how they deal with this ubiquitous problem.
- Journal about the frustration.
- Calmly identify the problem(s) and think of at least one potential solution to try.
- Meditate or do yoga.
- Look to others for assistance.
- Keep track of progress over the long term. See how far you have come.
- Read funny cartoons, uplifting quotations, or maybe review some past compliments.
- Get back on the horse – don’t let too much time pass before you start working on the problem again. (I have a lot of abandoned work because of this).
- Be organized and plan ahead as much as possible to avoid frustrations in the first place.
- Let go of the idea of perfection – go for improvement.
- Understand that artwork always takes twice as much time and materials than you plan on.
Bittersweet was one of the most frustrating prints that I have done, but I learned a lot. I now know how to tell if paper has the right moisture content to take color without bleeding. I learned some good tricks about adjusting registration. I got better at organizing before printing. And I learned other things that I can’t even articulate.
January 18, 2009 at 6:37 pm
First let me say that this print is beautiful. I spend a lot of time outdoors. During the winter colors are subdued. The landscape is mostly a mixture of whites, yellows and browns. But Bittersweet’s bold red berries stand out in a field of drab. It’s impossible to pass them by without appreciating them, recognizing them, or saying hi to them. As for frustration, I say, “be like the bittersweet”. Just be yourself. Dont worry about what others say or do. That makes a person drab. I think all your ideas to deal with frustration are good. As for me I go fly fishing, or hiking. It’s what I like to do and it works for me. Do what makes you happy and that will work for you =)
January 28, 2009 at 2:28 pm
Have you read Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott? She talks about the writers process but so much of what she says applies to any creative process. I think your print is beautiful and do not include it in the following Lamott paraphrasing: in the creative process we have to give ourselves permission to make a lot of crap art. Only in doing so can we get on to the good stuff. So perhaps the frustration we all experience is simply the slogging we all must do to get to the good stuff. keep up the good work!
March 6, 2009 at 1:24 pm
I think Bittersweet is a beautiful print. And I like your list of ways to work with your frustration. I resonate with several of your strategies.
#7 (Get back on the horse) is one of my faves. For me, it’s good to walk away from the project when I’m frustrated, mostly so I don’t do anything rash, but it’s also important to get back to it *soon* — otherwise, like you say, I’m apt to get overly fearful and abandon it altogether.
My version of #10 is ‘It takes as long as it takes.’ Nothing messes me up more than setting a deadline for when I think the print will be done. It never takes the time I think it will, and the stronger my mental picture of how the process is supposed to go, the harder I struggle when it doesn’t go that way. I think this is related to “let go of the idea of perfection.” That’s another challenge — to hold the intention of doing my best, to plan well, but to yield to the process as it unfolds and adapt as needed.
Another thing I’ve learned about woodblock, particularly when carving, is to watch my energy level and to stop when I’m tired. The whole process really requires full-on attention and I make so many mistakes when I’m tired.
Thanks for raising this topic. I like thinking about it.