As an Artist, what are you most afraid of?
Do you know what you’re afraid of? Not sure what you’re afraid of? Just feel a generalized anxiety?
Just naming your fear can help arrest it.
To help name your fear, I highly recommend that every artist read “Art and Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Art Making”, by David Bayles and Ted Orland.
This classic thin volume clearly and concisely dissects all that kills an artist’s muse. It’s fear. Creativity and productivity killers come in several flavors.
Not only does fear kill making art, it kills opportunities to make money with our art.
Perfectionism is a particularly tricky flavor of fear because it’s disguised behind the virtues of diligence and care.
But perfectionism is an unforgiving lie. Why? Because achieving it is impossible and ultimately it can crush our soul.
Voltaire warned us, Perfect is the enemy of good.
Perfectionism is just simply inefficient. Increasing your efforts to achieve impossible standards inevitably results in diminishing returns.
Bottom line. Perfectionism is stifling, unrealistic, and wasteful. Nothing gets done under it’s influence.
“Art and Fear” names many fears that plague the creative. In over a decade of my work with artists, perfectionism is the most pervasive and insidious.
How do I know about perfectionism? Because it still creeps into my psyche if I don’t keep it bay.
It can not only kill my art, it can kill my business.
Building a business is a continuous act of creativity. That’s why some of the most successful entrepreneurs are creative, a la Steve Jobs or Sir Richard Branson.
So what’s the antidote to fear?
You can’t kill fear. You feel what you feel. And we need to feel fear to warn against true danger.
What you can do is focus on courage. You can feel fear and anxiety and move forward towards your desires anyway.
Feel your fears. They won’t kill you.
As soon as you become aware of your fear, your perfection, employ your imagination to shift your attention on your courage, confidence, and ease. Eventually these emotions will eclipse your fear.
You are an artist. So your imagination is your strongest secret weapon.
What do I know about fear? I suffered from severe anxiety and depression for over three decades. Finally, I was told that I would most likely never be free of it.
Instead of accepting a diagnosis that seemed to me like a death sentence, I thankfully, got righteously pissed.
My anger fueled my recovery and I’m now grateful to be free of it.
What are you afraid of? Name your two biggest fears below.
About Ann Rea
Ann Rea is a San Francisco based Artist and Entrepreneur. Her inspired business approach to selling her paintings have been featured on HGTV and the Good Life Project, in Fortune, and The Wine Enthusiast magazines, profiled in the book Career Renegade. Rea’s artistic talent is commended by American art icon, Wayne Thiebaud, and she has a growing list of collectors across North America and Europe.
Thank you for sharing Susan!
I think one fear I have had is “you’re not a real artist.” You have to be a genius to be an artist. It took me awhile to get over that and I did it by finally showing my work and having it sell. People said things like, “You’re such an artist! Only an artist could think up something like that.” I am? Well, I guess I am and there it is.
Re business: Oh, I’ll mess it up. I can’t do the math. I don’t know how to price things. And then I developed the mantra of ” you’re learning something new and mistakes will be made.” This has been really helpful.
I’m fearful of being judged by others who say I’m not good enough. I’m also fearful failing and realizing my dreams were not mine to have.
I feel fear of not being “good enough” in my canvas renderings in acrylic. Fear of not leaving my images in a “believable” essence.
But then when I last taught a third grade class how to paint some apple images, I said, “don’t be afraid, there is “no” wrong way to paint one.” So I guess what I’m trying to say is the fear element creeps up on all of us. I try to use it as a reason to view other artists work and acknowledge what it is about their work that I really like or am drawn to. Then I go back to my own work and look for ways to improve or analyze whether or not mine has an appealing effect. Just because someone else paints “blue” and calls it perfect, doesn’t mean that “red” isn’t more closely related to being fabulous. Besides, I would rather paint to “fabulous” because it’s much easier to feel the excitement and always leaves room for improvement. So strive to make each painting better than the last and know that whatever level of creating you are at is exactly where you need to be in order to move on.
There is no such thing as perfect here on earth.
If John Doe views something as perfect, you can bet that a different John Doe will find flaws!! Just think about it. But fabulous in anything speaks volumes.