How to pick the next right move.

I could play it for hours and hours.
Always trying to figure out the next right move.
Sometimes I could win easily and other times it was a draw.
But I really loved it when I would put my mark in random corners and boxes, without thinking, and then somehow I would get the opportunity to connect three in a row.

That’s how it feels to me when working in the studio.

Random ideas, separate from each other, but then a connection is made and the creative flow pulls it all together.

We all love when that happens.
So here's an exercise I use when looking for next right move creating my art.

It’s easy to suffer from “choices” overwhelm.
So many great new materials to buy and try, all so seductive, plus include a 50% off coupon and it’s hard to resist buying something new each week.
But here is the truth about that.

It’s easier to make a purchase of a new supply and live in the hope of “Someday I’ll Create”, then to get your butt in the chair and start creating. 

So, clear out the bags and boxes of untouched supplies.
Hide them away so they are not staring you down and try a new approach.

Go into the studio, take out just one thing you’ve been wanting to work with, a new paint or ink or fiber or texture plate and spend an hour with it. 

Just one hour. 

then...

Let it be.

Yes. 

Try not to become all judgmental and opinionated on what you did. 

Start an alter of your one hour “finished” pieces.  

Give them some breathing room.
In other words just look at what you learned working with the medium and not the result of the finished piece. 

Try this experiment at least a half a dozen times and build your alter of one hour pieces. 

I’ve interviewed hundreds of artists over the years and the most common thread of how people work is that they give themselves permission to experiment and create without expectations. 

The best thing about this exercise is just like with tic tac toe, when you have done your “random” creating, connecting it all and making your next right move, will appear right in front of you. 

xo

Alison