The Snarl of Perfectionism

Does perfectionism ever scare you away from enjoying making art? It sure has for me. As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm taking a pastel drawing/painting class. I really love pastels, and want to learn to work loosely with them.

I find myself often caught in the bind of not wanting to try anything different on a piece I'm working on because I don't want to 'ruin' it. I want it to turn out looking perfect, and so I don't take chances on making different markings, or experiment with other colors.

I am trying to drop this perfectionist tendency. It stops me from experimenting and learning more about the medium. I lose my opportunity to see what's in front of me. And I'm more likely to continue my obsession with tiny details which feels stifling. Perfectionism also stops me from having fun and finding the joy in making art.

So this little guy inspires me in a couple of ways - first, to consider that my perfectionism is not all that fierce.

Second, next time it kicks in I'll just snarl back at it and keep on going my merry way!

Have fun creating this week!



Image from flikr, used with creative commons license.

Freedom from Self Improvement

Jennifer Louden, the Comfort Queen, has declared this week the freedom from self improvement week, and I've signed up!


This does NOT mean that we get to let ourselves go hog wild and do everything we normally do to keep our urges under control (Ice cream!!!!!) but that we give ourselves the grace of accepting ourselves as we are. Knowing that we are already good and wonderful and amazing. Our job is to let ourselves see this. Beyond see, experience!


So I realized this morning that I could NOT spend another day at my computer trying to knock out more writing or other parts of my developing creativity coaching biz. I gathered up some acrylic paint, a big sketchbook, some fabric and my folding chair and headed down route 7 to this lovely spot. Here I planned to free myself from responsibility to work with some freeing no expectation art making.

I sat on a huge flat rock by the St. Vrain Creek. I practiced my qi gong, Cosmic Freedom Qigong, no less :-). I was intrigued by the patterns on the beech tree next to the rock and this made its way into my painting.


And of course, I have a compulsion to use every last bit of paint left on my palette. This is where I work with wild abandon, as I dipped the muslin I brought in the creek to wet it, then made monoprints with the leftover paint.

Topped by an iced chai latte, this was the perfect day for celebrating my self, complete as I am, loving and enjoying what I love to do.

What does your perfect day of celebrating you look like?

Believe in Your Creativity SlideShow

I took a teleclass 2 weeks ago on making slideshows and I am HOOKED! I love doing these. I enjoy the whole kit and caboodle and get lost in it for hours! So here is my slideshow on discovering your sources of inspiration. In it you will also see why it's so important to know YOUR inspiration.

I have entered this slideshow in the World's Best Presentation Contest 09, so if you like it, please take a moment to vote for it here. If you cannot view the presentation below, click here to view. I'd love to read any comments. Enjoy the show!

Your Creative Inspiration

View more presentations from Vicki Schroeder.