Want to quick share a few thoughts about process, research, experimentation in our art process.

About a year ago I had an idea for a piece with a new material, and I fell into it the way a scientist does with an experiment: what will happen if, how long does it need to be like that, what happens when I do this?

And I made a few arm and body casts with plaster. Painted on them, tore them open, built it again. I took notes on what worked, and what didn’t. It took a month or so to really dig in and understand the material.

I ended up not liking the piece, but I’m so grateful for what might be considered a “failed project,” because I got so much out of that research, that permission to just see what happens. And now, a year later, I was able to access that understanding and make a new piece - a piece I love, a piece that is in an exhibition.

I think it’s so easy to slip into the mindset of things not working out on the arts - after all, rejection of calls or opportunities is inherent to the process. It’s easy to slip into a perfectionist mentality because honestly - it matters a LOT if you spend 20 hours on a piece, and use the wrong color for a section right at the end.

But I’d argue that all of it matters, and all of it has value - because the mistakes, the wrong blue, the experiments, the research, the ideas that you dive into and maybe decide to let go - all of that is time spent learning, practicing. You don’t know when, or how, you’ll access it later.

The arts can be a tough field for a lot of reasons, but there is so much joy in the experimentation, the research, the materials.

I encourage all my artist friends to regularly make, to experiment, to maybe intentionally make “bad art,” to do work in another medium - even if it’s just for a day once in a while…

Because it pushes you… your brain… your ideas… in new and awesome ways. And you never know where that’ll take you, or what that bit of time will give you.

But how often do you experiment? Do you use different materials? Different techniques? How do you approach it? Do you take notes, or just notice it?

I’d love to hear ❤️