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Artists get into a comfort zone, just like anyone else can do in their careers. The comfort zone is called that for a very good reason. People don’t like to stick their necks out and open themselves up to ridicule or to the fear of failure. I remember going to a workshop in Montana 20+ years ago when I was beginning to teach myself how to paint. I was staying home with my three young sons, and I wanted to explore my curiosity about art. During college and graduate school, I had too many required science classes that took all of my time to be able to investigate my appreciation of art. At this workshop I saw artists trying to paint the way the instructor did, and when they didn’t find success, they returned to the way that they always painted. They returned to a place where they felt successful because the unknown was just too scary.

What happens when artists gets out of their safe zone and try something new?  The result can range from complete chaos to an epiphany.  If you are an artist that’s debating whether or not to try something new, you might be asking yourself, “What happens if I fail?”. Nothing will happen, unless you try to learn from your failure. It is no big deal if you fail, for failure gives you the opportunity for growth.  I used to have a sign in my science classroom that said, “Don’t be afraid to fail! If you don’t know what I mean, ask me!”  I wanted my students to get out of their comfort zones and into their creativity zones. There is no guarantee of success when you are in the creativity zone, so many people are afraid to approach it, let alone enter it. I also had a sign that said, “I want you to think, not just merely exist!”.  So many artists say that they create with emotion, but I say that evaluation is just as important as emotion when it come to creativity.  Maybe it is the scientist in me that thinks that constant analysis and evaluation is the way to creativity. I would be the first to admit that I was not trained in a traditional way when it comes to art. When you are self-taught, you have to constantly get out of your comfort zone to analyze and evaluate your work, or you will not have any progress.

I started painting with soft pastels only a couple of years ago. I had decided that I wanted to try something totally different, something that I knew absolutely nothing about…. soft pastels. When I started painting with pastels, I felt like I was painting with my left foot! How was I going to get a handle on something that was so completely different from what I was used to? I went to the Internet to see if I could get some basics on soft pastels, but then I realized that I was just delaying the inevitable…. failure. I realized that I shouldn’t fill my hours with looking up solutions; I had to paint, fail, and evaluate over and over again to get to the place that I wanted to be. I tried a new painting, and hated it. I tried another painting and felt miserable. I kept trying and trying. Then, I finally gave myself permission to fail. After repeated failures I finally had one 11x14 painting of which I liked only a small 4x5 portion.  I cut out that little 4x5 section and I framed it. Was it a great painting? Unequivocally, I can state that it was not, but I would not sell it for any price. That little painting that I framed represented to me my epiphany moment, when I first felt a glimmer of hope that I would understand this new medium that I was trying.

I kept working in pastel in the following months, and when a prestigious art show’s deadline approached, I entered a trompe-l'œil piece that took me months to complete, and a small soft pastel that took me a day to complete. Guess which one was accepted to this international show…. Yup, the little pastel. I felt like such an imposter at the opening, since this was a medium that was still so new to me. Yet I noticed a curious thing, well, at least it was strange to me. Many people, even the Master painters at the show told me how much they liked the little pastel.  These painters, who were very well known for their artwork, liked my little painting!   The people in charge of this event had asked for demonstrators. Even though I felt like a toddler just learning to walk in my understanding of pastels, I said that I would demonstrate what I knew about pastels. While I was demonstrating, one of the most well known artists there come over and asked me a lot of questions about working in pastel. ME! What an honor.

“If you don’t shoot for the stars, you will never even reach the moon” is a saying that I said over and over again to my students. What’s the worst that can happen if I fail in my attempt to make a great painting when trying something new? Nothing.... I just throw the painting away. But before I do, I need to evaluate it to figure out what is wrong. Do I figure that out right away? No! Some of these failures stay with me quite a while until I can finally figure out what is wrong. Have I wasted time when I created paintings that I consider a failure? No, not if I have tried to learn from them.

The painting that I have included in this blog, Spring Explosion, is the painting that was accepted into that prestigious art exhibition. If you feel like you have artist’s block, or are bored with doing the same old thing, take a risk and get out of your comfort zone by exploding the barriers to your creativity!