I put a request on one of my social media channels asking what sort of subjects you would like to see talked about here, thinking I would be presented with a selection of specific techniques, and I was quite surprised that many of you have been suffering from a little bit of Painter’s Block recently.

I have always been very fortunate that I haven’t ever really suffered from it, I’ve had a bout of ‘too many projects so little time’ and a seriously viral ‘why won’t this painting do what I want it to’ (I’ll talk about those in another blog) but apart from procrastination which is another blog post too, I don’t seem to have ever lost my painting mojo.

It must be very frustrating and get steadily worse the more you think about it so here are a few suggestions of what might help break the cycle.

Firstly, let’s talk about what is NOT happening:
1. You haven’t forgotten how to paint
2. You haven’t lost your skills
3. You’re not being lazy
I think sometimes we get these things mixed up, let me put it to you another way, let’s say you have a favourite biscuit and you buy them and eat them all the time. Just because one week you didn’t get to the shops or you fancied something different or you have simply had enough of them doesn’t mean anything, we simply change our tastes, opinions and expectations.

Maybe your creativity has just changed a little bit and it’s time to start afresh?

Maybe you have had a significant life event that has filled up your head and your hard drive is full, therefore you simply don’t have the space to think too deeply about being creative at the moment?

Even if you absolutely know WHY it is, let’s see if I can help get you over the bump and I promise that’s all it is, a bump in the creative road. Maybe some of the following will help:

1. Re-evaluate what it is to be creative. You don’t have to create a stunning masterpiece every day, maybe it’s looking back over old paintings or reading a blog about a technique or even clearing out your art stash, all of these things are paving the way for creativity to re-emerge and you’ll be ready when it does.
2. Here are a few things that are just as creative as painting and drawing but maybe you haven’t appreciated that they are: reading a book, baking a cake, listening to music, gardening, and writing a letter. Don’t fall into the trap that there is a hierarchy of creativity, all these things are equal so try one of them and re-focus knowing that you have just deviated temporarily.
3. Write down what advice you would give to a friend who asked for your help in getting their mojo back. Put the advice away for a couple of days and then when you are ready to listen to it, read it aloud to yourself and receive the amount of kindness that you are willing to give to others.

When you are feeling a little more like you are ready to get back to it, DO NOT sit down and paint a picture. Did you see those capital letters there? That means I’m serious about it.
Make a mess and permit yourself to make a mess- experiment, cut, tear, pour, blow…whatever it takes to get paint on a piece of paper and make sure it doesn’t look like anything as this isn’t about the finished thing, it’s about being creative and you can’t have one without the other.

Above all be kind to yourself. Those of us who like to see others succeed usually put themselves at the back of the queue to heed the advice we so freely offer to our friends and relations and also, find your tribe. They don’t have to be painters but they do need to be people who are willing to prop you up on a bad day or a bad month, it’s great if they are creative people because they will empathise and there’s nothing like finding people who accept you for all that you are. Maybe you have more than one tribe for different parts of your life but seek these people out because it will be to them that you will go for advice and who will show astonishing amounts of kindness when you need it most. Maybe it’s us and if it is, I hope we are helping.

Keep going, you are almost there 🥰