“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners. I wish someone had told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase; they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative, work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know that it’s normal and the important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you finish one piece. It’s only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take a while. It’s normal to take awhile. You just gotta fight your way through.”
~ Ira Glass
I shared this video a while back and I still believe it to be a very powerful message to creators.
Not everything you create is going to be good, especially in the beginning. A lot of the times I feel that my work is not good, not even remotely good but I keep creating. I keep pushing forward. I have been creating, painting, drawing and everything under the sun for at least 10 years and I only had my first art show this last summer. I never shared my work, with anyone besides my family. I wasn’t so much that I was self-conscious of my work but more that I didn’t know how people would react so instead of find out I just kept it to myself. This is not a good thing. As a creator sharing your work should be the fun part. You put all of this hard work into a piece of art why not share it?
I have learned along my creative journey that not everyone is going to “get” your message. Not everyone is going to see what you see when they look at your work but guess what? THAT IS OK.
When you look at a painting by Vincent Van Gogh your reaction can be totally different than someone else, does that mean that Vincent Van Gogh didn’t know his stuff? No. Does that mean he wasn’t innovative and amazing? No. It simply means that we are all different and to each their own. If we all felt the same way about art then creating new ideas would be pointless.
I think this quote is beneficial to all artists, creators, students and people in general. What do you think?
I hope you all have have a lovely snow day!
xoxo
K. Rose
