Coming to terms with creative spirit

“I want to do it all!”  Its a phrase i see commonly trying to be played out with creative people… Someone else’s work sparks ideas of how to make it your own, and build on the media they utilize.  Let me clarify.  I know that my primary artistic expressive area is Shibori and the process of dying silk.  I love that, its a passion that is never totally satiated because i am always learning new things, growing in my willingness to experiment, and desiring to press the edges of the known ways of doing this unique dying process.

But I know several people that are amazingly gifted photographers.  They look through the lens of their camera and create magic.  Not just capturing the image, but able to frame it and capture the image as a short story.  Stylized with precision, the angle of the lens just perfect, the lighting is spectacular.  Their years of skills look so seamlessly easy.  Yes, The inner artist in me wants to grab my cheap Nikon and try to duplicate it… not in a million years with the novice skills, and the no frills camera… A lifetime of skills cannot be captured in one sudden click of the camera.

And when i look at watercolor my mind begins to follow the strokes, longing to put a brush to the paper, to flood the image with color and water and yet… my water colors look much like a 5 year old finger painting rather than the refined hand of friends who have painted for decades.

And there is the artist within that wants to make strong visual images whether on canvas or sculpture… but my work is often in my head, not translating to my hands.

And I have seen other creative people that I could easily begin to duplicate… and make my own.  I have found diversion trying some of these things, but then the voice of balance kicks in.  Something inside of my soul tells me that showing restraint, and focusing in on what i truely do well would have a greater impact on the world.  If it is Shibori, then I need to keep growing, learning, and developing skills that will translate to inspiration for others.

Desiring to be a professional Artist, I know that staying single focused on what i already do well and working at it daily is key to my success.  But that sure does not stop me from thinking about the beauty others create so seamlessly.  I may still want to do it all, but for now I will show restraint, and discipline myself to just the few things I do.  Shibori is an endless subject with at least 10 documented types of bound resist dying.  I have only ventured into two areas… so there is so much more to do.