I create because I am incomplete if I don’t. It allows me to discover the voice of my heart when the busyness of life dulls it. It gives me a place of delight that is simply my own and oh how I know this is a blessed freedom. Sometimes though our studio or creative space is too filed with our voice only. I crave those times in art school when we were all feverishly working in our sloppy spaces all in one room and could say, “hey, whatdya think about..” at any junction we felt blocked or stuck in. We were submerged in our own head until we weren’t. We were churning out our language while the influence of languages were spoken around us. It is the kind of chatter, input, energy, criticism and perspective I long for.
Artist require solitude but we like anyone else need the voices of our peers on the same journey. Residency, Art Guilds, Facebook groups, Instagram…any way you can find it, give it and value it. You will grow exponentially and your community will be fed as well.
Let me know your ways of finding creative community in the comments below. I would love to hear, be encouraged and hopefully encourage others.