Tammy Nara

In my last post about my snow labyrinth, I compared it to a path toward a goal that has many changes in direction but as long as you keep following the path you will get to the goal. A maze is different. A maze has many choices to make and many dead ends. The goal is to find your way through.

My creative process currently feels like a maze. There are too many choices. Maintaining this blog helps me put my thoughts in order. I now have a few drafts of blog posts that are the beginnings of ideas. The fact that I have that store of ideas is both reassuring and aggravating. Reassuring because I am confident that running out of ideas is not going to be a problem. Aggravating because of the hours I have spent editing posts that are still not ready.

Also, ideas for paintings are flooding in faster than I can get them down on paper or canvas. Sketching is all I have done this week so far. It seems inadequate. Maybe these ideas are all garbage, but I must get them down so that I can either develop them or move on. I know that my job is just to show up and do the work. That is my own advice that I have a hard time following. I do not know which path to choose, which ideas to spend time developing. Am I in a dead end? Is it time to turn around?

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Something feels different about how my creative process is evolving. I believe it is a positive change. No shortage of ideas, just a shortage of time. I sense an urgency to record my ideas. The articles and videos and books that I’ve been reading inspire me but are also stealing my time. Wait. That is not acurate. They are not stealing my time, I am giving my time to them. It is all part of the process. I even picked up knitting again. It was a craving I noticed one day. That is the best way to describe it; I craved the repetition of knitting. I chose a simple project so that my mind could wander. Is knitting moving me forward in my creative process or is it a wrong turn in the maze?

The work I am producing seems to be developing a life of its own and I am a bit like an observer. I like that this is happening. It is getting easier to let go of judgement and just watch what happens with curiosity. I have read of this phenomenon happening to other artists and writers, if you have a story about this happening to you, please share!