Challenge #18: Just Do It

Last week, we pondered the question, "Is an artist still an artist if they're not creating?" While I don't pretend to have the answer to that, I do have an answer to the general feeling of malaise and confusion about life that may result from a failure to make art -- and it's GENIUS! Are you ready??

Just. Do. It.

Sorry Nike, I know that's kinda your catch phrase and all, but really, it applies to so much more than athletic footwear.

Sometimes (okay, all the time), I don't feel like taking the dogs for a walk in the morning. But I do it anyway -- sleepy, grumpy, and generally zombified though I may be -- and by the time we get done with our walk, I'll have woken up, the dogs will have used up some of their crazy energy, and I'll get to come home feeling productive. Not to mention that getting up out of the computer chair every now and then is actually good for me. But when that alarm clock starts screaming at way-the-F-too-early o' clock, the only thing that keeps me from smashing the snooze button with the vengeance of a thousand She-Hulks is one simple phrase: just do it.

Art creation can happen under similar circumstances. It certainly did in college, at least for me -- the teacher would give an assignment, and I would work on it. Usually leaving most of the work until the last minute, but still, I would work on it. Whether I felt relaxed and inspired, or if I felt stressed and exhausted, I still did it, because at the end of that project was a grade, and that grade could decide the future of my degree.


"Real life," as many of us post-college noobs have taken to calling it, comes with the same demands -- it can just be a bit harder to understand how our actions will affect our future. Being in school gives us an artificial sense of movement and accomplishment, with graduation acting as the finish line. Once you're out of school, there aren't any finish lines, or checkpoints, or advisors waiting for you to come in for a degree check. You're just existing, same as everyone else, and you have to be accountable to yourself when it comes to setting and accomplishing goals.

Therefore, dear reader, this week we're challenging you to stop waiting for a teacher or a client to put the pressure on you before you create. JUST DO IT -- take 30 minutes every day to work on art. Even if you don't finish a piece this week, you'll still be a lot closer to finishing than you were when you started. Now grab your swag, and get creating!

Envy, Inequality, and Snobbery: Traditional Measurements for Success Kinda Suck

"What I want to argue for is not that we should give up on our ideas of success, but we should make sure that they are our own. We should focus in on our ideas, and make sure that we own them, that we are truly the authors of our own ambitions. Because it's bad enough, not getting what you want, but it's even worse to have an idea of what it is you want and find out at the end of a journey, that it isn't, in fact, what you wanted all along."

- Wicked-smart Alain de Botton, smacking all of us upside the face with some rock-solid truth.

Can I get a "AMEN," people?!

Seriously, let's take a look at the metrics we measure success by. Money. Fame. Sex Appeal. What's the problem with all three of these?

Oh yeah, they're entirely based on external forces that are beyond your control. Money will come, and money will go (just ask my wallet). Fame is like a viral video - it tends to happen by accident, and one day you wake up and realize no one's watching you anymore.

And sex appeal? Marilyn might have said it best:

"We all lose our shape in the end."

Ah yes, gather ye roses while ye may, beauties -- but don't forget that those roses are going to fade and die just like everything else.


Woah there, downer post, Kate.

Believe me, I realize that this isn't the kind of message that you might want to hear, but basing your success metric on Money, Fame, or Sex Appeal is about as reliable as leaving a giant chunk of cheese on the kitchen counter and trusting that your dog isn't going to eat it. I'm speaking from experience here: don't trust the dog.

When it comes to feeling satisfied and successful in your life, deep down inside you know what you need to do. The trick is learning to leave behind all those other measurements that society tries to make force on you.

Take it from India.Arie, then get out there and write your own.

Take Five With Mickey Pangburn

Name:
Mickey Pangburn

Creative Specialties:
Songwriting, Music, Singing, Painting, Latte Art

Current Location:
Tempe Arizona

Mini Bio:
In fear for her life, Norah B. took her then-3-year-old daughter Mickey Louise and fled her home in Knoxville Tennessee. Mickey's convict father was hot in pursuit, causing them to live in hiding for the next 15 years. Running from state to state, Mickey took to a life of secrecy and solitude; spending most days alone in her room making mixed tapes, and writing songs with an acoustic guitar her mother picked up at a yard-sale. In college she met and married drummer Jesse Pangburn, and the two studied jazz. They moved to Tempe AZ, and formed The Prowling Kind out of coffee culture meet-ups and late night jams. Their debut album, Tennessee, is comprised of glimpses into Mickey's tumultuous childhood, and Norah's young love of an outlaw. A story sure to draw you in.

Website: 
WEBSITE: http://theprowlingkind.com
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TheProwlingKind
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/TheprowlingKind
YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxcSXYIRRnxwDlMlryU2n1A

1) What is one thing you've learned as an artist that you wish you'd known when you first started out?

Use the time you think you’re “stuck in waiting”, to refine your skills. Allow room to be creative and practice without expectations. Those behind the scenes hours count. It’s what we don’t see, that makes what we do see (be it -on stage/canvas/film, wherever) worthwhile.

2) How do you cope with creative anxiety and societal expectations?

In the words of Regina Spektor, “People are just people, they shouldn’t make you nervous.” Maybe everybody won’t dig what I do….but that has to be Okay. It’s simple, but that’s how I see it.

3) If money was no object, what would you make?

What I make now, only faster. My mind goes a million miles an hour, pulling my ambitions right along. My pocketbook slows me down though and I think God intended it that way. I need to be slowed down enough to at least let the good stuff sink in and gain meaning.

4) How do you deal with the inevitable uncertainty that accompanies a creative life?

I’m a planner. Uncertainty can be terrifying. I generally freak out as a means of “dealing”. By the time I come to my senses (either as a result of my husband’s gentile rebuking/ or much needed prayer) I remember that this creative life is the only option for me. As humbling, disconcerting & uncertain as it may be- it’s what I was made for. I am happy to say however, my freak out episodes have decreased steadily over the years!

5) What is the greatest challenge you have faced as a creative person?

Just letting myself be me and letting a project be what it is. There’s always room and need for growth, but I realized that if I wait till I’m perfect at anything- nothing will EVER get done! If I change the harmony of that song one more time, I may never actually record it! Simply allowing myself to take each experience for what it’s worth, acknowledging it as a means of refining, or allowing it to be a testament to a specific season (and not the end-all-be-all summation of my creative expression!), has been the biggest and most rewarding challenge.

The Prowling Kind's debut album, Tennessee, drops on August 27th! You can read more about Mickey and their band on their WEBSITE! You can even download a copy of their first single "Babycakes" for free!

One Small Step For Art Kind...

Here's the thing, I can talk in cliches until I'm blue in the face, but setting out to reach our goals is terrifying and completely overwhelming no matter how you slice it.  It's hard enough to let ourselves dream of that distant far off mountain we'd like to reach, but once you sit down to the brass tacks of actually making a map and figuring out how you are going to get from point A to point B, things start going a bit lopsided.

The problem comes in when we start to realize just how much work and effort it's actually going to take to get to that damn mountain.

It's easy to dream and say someday, but when we are faced with a physical map and a plan of action we start making excuses for why not, why it's too hard, why we'll never make it, why we can't.  It can almost be comical how ridiculous we can get with this mindset.  Larry Smith does an amazing job of pointing this out in his TED talk "Why you will fail to have a great career".

"You're afraid to pursue your passion. You're afraid to look ridiculous. You're afraid to try. You're afraid you may fail." - Larry Smith

It's so easy once we create our roadmaps to become suddenly paralyzed by them instead of encouraged by them.  The journey seems so overwhelming we are simply unable to begin it.  But a mountain is never conquered in one giant leap, it is  scaled slowly, one step at a time.  Even if the step you can take today is small, you are still one step closer to your dream than if you let your fear of failure paralyze you from even beginning the journey.

Challenge #5: Take Yourself Seriously

Okay people -- we've had our playtime, we've exchanged encouragement, now it's time to buckle down and take yourself seriously. Not just as an artist, but as a business person. You'd like to get paid for your work, right?

If that's the case, you're probably going to need business cards.

Here's a handy-dandy .PSD template to get you started. If you don't have access to Photoshop or would rather create your own template to work from, the standard dimensions for business cards are 3.5" x 2".

Now, I know how easy it is to say, "Oh yeah, I'll do that one day, right now I just need to focus on my actual work. Marketing can come later." Here are five reasons you might want to rethink that.


5) Business cards make it a lot less awkward to give people a way to get in touch with you.

• Think about it: you're chatting, you mention what you do, they mention that they're looking for someone who does just that, and then --- you awkwardly attempt to give them your contact information on the back of a grocery receipt. Soooooo classy.

4) Business cards give you a lot of bang for your buck.

• There are some great sites out there for printing affordable business cards -- we particularly love Moo.com and Vistaprint.com -- but you can also print your own as you need them. Once you have your card design, get some cardstock and ink, and go crazy -- or, if you're like me, go print them over at a copy shop where they have the giant paper cutter (it saves SO MUCH time). Voilà -- not only do you now look super professional, you also have a tiny paper army of mini advertisements working to get your name out there.

3) Business cards give you superpowers.

• Remember that tiny paper army I was talking about? You might not be able to be everywhere at once, but they can. All you have to do is carry them along in your pocket and leave a few at businesses and public spaces where you feel your future customers might frequent. Be sure to ask permission before you set them down -- most places will have a spot where they display related businesses' materials. And be sure to keep up a relationship with the places you've left your cards - the cards might be able to talk for you, but it's the people working at these establishments that are going to be referencing your cards when customers ask.

2) Business cards are another chance for you to make art.

• Wouldn't it be fun to make little pieces of art that you could give away and make people smile? My favorite version of this is what photographer and street artist Katie Sokoler did when she found she was out of business cards:
  


Now that's a card I'd pick up and want to learn more about! Here's a list of a bunch of other brilliant and creative ideas to get you started.

1) Business cards not only help others take you seriously, they help you take yourself seriously.

• Since quitting my 9 to 5 and going full time freelancer, I've dealt with my share of friends making jokes about my "job" and "working" from home. While these statements may have been intended purely as jokes, they still brought up a deeply-rooted fear I have about freelancing; that I'm just spinning my wheels, not actually growing a business. Taking direct business-related action, like creating and distributing business cards, not only helps me develop my company, but it gives me tangible things to point to anytime I or other people question my progress. No, it's not the cure-all, but it is a productive way to combat those fears.

Convinced? You should be. Even if you're not, how about you make some business cards and pass them around this week anyway? There worst thing that happens is a couple more people hear about about what you do. That can't be too bad, can it?

True Confessions Of A Guerrilla Artist

My oh so terrifying knit bomb...
you're terrified right?

The time was midnight, it was dark and clear and you could just hear the sound of the wind rustling in the trees.  I had scoped out the spot earlier that day; not a security camera in sight.  I threw my bag over my shoulders and crept along the sidewalk.  As I moved through the night, my black clothes helping me to disappear into the shadows, I focused all my will power on calming my racing heartbeat.  This was my first job, and as much as I had prepared, the thought of getting caught still nagged at the back of my mind.  I needed to get in and get out.  Right then a car came zooming up around the corner.  Quick as a flash, I leapt behind a bush, ducking out of site from the gleam of the car’s high beams.  “Idiot!” I whispered loudly under my breath. “If you had just kept walking like you were supposed to be there, no one would have noticed you!  But no, you had to dress in all black from head to toe and then leap behind a bush like a criminal… because that’s not suspicious looking at all.”  I got up, brushed the leaves out of my hair, and kept walking towards my target, an old lamp post in the middle of downtown.  Once there, I paused looking around the deserted streets. No one is sight, good.  Bending over my bag, I reached in and grabbed the long roll of fabric I had spent the last three weeks making just for this moment.  Unrolling it I held it up the post and began to stich it on.  The needle slid into the fabric, knotted against the back and then synched the two sides together as I pulled it taught.  A lump fell into the pit of my stomach.  As I continued stitching, my hands began to tremble and I repeatedly kept dropping the needle and having to spend precious moments finding it again.  How long had I been standing here in the open?  The seconds were pounding away in my brain.  Another car zoomed round the corner and before I could stop myself I had dived into yet another bush.  Cursing myself for my ongoing stupidity I crept back to my project and began to ferociously attack my piece, sewing up the sides as fast as I could get my fingers to fly.  Finally, after what seemed an eternity of standing there exposed, I slid the final knot into place, cut the line, stuffed my things back into my bag and got the hell out of dodge.  As I slid back into the safety of my vehicle, my body began to shake uncontrollably, my hands fumbling to much to even secure my seat buckle.   Back at home I sat motionless, curled up into the fetal position on the corner of my couch, as if half expecting the police to burst through the door at any moment and carry me away.  I waited.  Nothing.  My eyes closed, my body exhausted by the emotional and mental strain of the night sagged and slowly I drifted to sleep…

Ok, so maybe I’m not cut out to be Sam Spade or the criminal type.  I mean come on, if I can’t even sew some soft fuzzy yarn on a pole without feeling like I’m suddenly on the FBI’s most wanted list… maybe that isn’t what I should be doing.

The thing is I LOVE guerilla art.  I love street art.  I love the passion behind it and the way that it brings a message directly to your audience without them ever having to pay $5 to step inside a museum.  Instead of them going to the art, you are simply just bringing the art to them instead.  Have I mentioned how much I love this concept?

So what’s a chicken, terrified-of-breaking-the-law-girl to do!?  Turns out a lot!

"The Gateway"

"A Line I Made By Walking"

In my adventures to find my street art niche, I tried all sorts of things.  Some didn’t turn out so well… hence the aforementioned story, but some of them really hit home with me, the two most prominent being Land Art and Guerrilla Gardening.

After my total failure as a knit bomber, I had decided to try something totally different.  Instead, of exploring the urban areas around me like I had been, I began to really dive into the natural elements surrounding me for a change.  Inspired by people like Andy Goldsworthy, Richard Long and Patrick Dougherty, I began creating work from nature.  I would often spend hours wandering around in the wilderness just getting to know the land, waiting for it to say something so that I could respond in the only way I knew how, through my art.  The best part was, this work wasn’t scary at all, it was almost sacred in a way.  I had found my niche.  To See more of my adventures in Land Art and read more about the projects pictured above, click HERE, HERE and HERE

After months of working with sticks and leaves and dirt and grass and trees and flowers and water and mud and whatever else I could come up with I began to really ache for those urban spaces again.  Then one day it dawned on me.  Why not simply mesh the two together?  Fueled with my newfound passion for land art, I began to brainstorm ideas for how I could combine the two disciplines.  After some time, I decided on a project that involved something known as guerrilla gardening.

At first, I was worried that this would be another horrific repeat of my knit bombing experience.  Nervously, I gathered up my tools and supplies that first day and headed downtown, determined to face my fears.  The difference was literally night and day… for one it actually was daytime.  I also didn’t try to dress up like some sort of crazed ninja assassin this time either.  Instead I was simply in a pair of jeans and t-shirt, slowly meandering around downtown pausing whenever I came to a spot I wanted to work.  I’m not going to lie, the first couple spots I worked I was pretty nervous, but nobody seemed to notice me.  Eventually it became clear that nobody really cared what I was up to as long as I wasn’t going to be smashing windows or vandalizing their property.  As I continued working, my confidence grew and I became more and more bold with my work.  In the end, I created and documented 21 separate guerrilla gardening installations downtown. If you want to see what my full Guerrilla Gardening piece turned out like, or want to read the artist statement behind what I was doing, check out THIS LINK HERE.

The moral of the story is, figure out what works for you.  You have to decide if your fear is coming from a place of discomfort with the act you are about to perform, or if it is coming from a place of nervousness about putting yourself out there as an artist.  If you are uncomfortable about the act itself, don’t do it.  You don’t have to be like everyone else.  Because you don’t like something, or are uncomfortable with it, doesn’t make you any more or less of an artist than another person, it simply makes you unique.  When you listen to your heart and go where it leads you, you will find yourself making the work only you could have made in a way only you could have made it.  Art isn’t about being the coolest, or the most trendy, or the most daring person.  It’s about having something to say and find your perfect medium in which to say it, your way.

So experiment this week, discover who you are, what you have to say and how you can say it. Don’t let your fear of exposure as an artist keep you from having your voice heard!

Me hanging out inside one of my favorite land art projects "Gateway"

Take Umm… 40? With Hugh MacLeod

Image © Hugh Macleod and gapingvoid.com

This Thursday, instead of our normal take five post, I wanted to share some amazing advice from cartoonist Hugh MacLeod. I recently got the chance to read his book: Ignore Everybody And 39 Other Keys to Creativity and was blown away by some of the really powerful observations he made about living a creative life. I'll be posting up all 40 of his key points below, but I highly suggest you pick up a copy of the book itself because it is definitely worth the read!!!  Hugh even lets you read the first 25% of the book for free if you click here!

Ignore everybody.

“The more original your idea is, the less good advice other people will be able to give you. When I first started with the cartoon-on-the-back-of-bizcard format, people thought I was nuts. Why wasn’t I trying to do something that was easier for markets to digest, like cutie-pie greeting cards or whatever?”

The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be yours.

“The sovereignty you have over your work will inspire far more people than the actual content ever will.”

Put the hours in.

“Doing anything worthwhile takes forever. Ninety percent of what separates successful people and failed people is time, effort and stamina.”

Good ideas have lonely childhoods.

“This is the price you pay, every time. There is no way of avoiding it.”

If your business plan depends on suddenly being “discovered” by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.

“Nobody suddenly discovers anything. Things are made slowly and in pain.”

You are responsible for your own experience.

“Nobody can tell you if what you are doing is good, meaningful, or worthwhile. The more compelling the path, the more lonely it is.”

Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.

“Then when you hit puberty, they take the crayons away and replace them with dry, uninspiring books on algebra, history, etc. Being suddenly hit years later with the “creative bug” is just a weak voice telling you, “I’d like my crayons back please.”

Keep your day job.

“I’m not just saying that for the usual reason – that is, because I think your idea will fail. I’m saying it because to suddenly quit one’s job in a big ol’ creative drama-queen moment is always, always, always a direct conflict with what I call “The Sex & Cash Theory.”

Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.

“Nor can you bully a subordinate into becoming a genius.”

Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.

“You may never reach the summit; for that you will be forgiven. But if you don’t make at least one serious attempt to get above the snow line, years later you will find yourself lying on your deathbed, and all you will feel is emptiness.”

The more talented somebody is, the less they need props.

“Meeting a person who wrote a masterpiece on the back of a deli menu would not surprise me. Meeting a person who wrote a masterpiece with a silver Cartier fountain pen on an antique writing table in an airy SoHo loft would seriously surprise me.”

Don't try and stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.

“Your plan for getting your work out there has to be as original as the actual work, perhaps even more so. The work has to create a totally new market. There’s no point trying to do the same thing as 250,000 other young hopefuls, waiting for a miracle. All existing business models are wrong. Find a new one.”

If you accept the pain, it cannot hurt you.

"The pain of making the necessary sacrifices always hurts more than you think it’s going to. I know. It sucks. The being said, doing something seriously creative is one of the most amazing experiences one can have, in this or any other lifetime. If you can pull it off, it’s worth it. Even if you don’t end up pulling it off, you’ll learn many incredible, magical, valuable things. It’s not doing it – when you know full well you had the opportunity – that hurts far more than any failure."

Never compare your inside with somebody else’s outside.

“The more you practice your craft, the less you confuse worldly rewards with spiritual rewards, and vice-versa. Even if your path never makes any money or furthers your career, that’s still worth a ton.”

Dying young is overrated.

“I’ve seen so many young people take the “Gotta do the drugs and booze thing to make me a better artist” route over the years. A choice that wasn’t smart, original, effective, healthy, or ended happily.”

The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do from what you are not.

“Art suffers the moment other people start paying for it. The more you need the money, the more people will tell you what to do. The less control you will have. The more bullshit you will have to swallow. The less joy it will bring. Know this and plan accordingly.”

The world is changing.

“Some people are hip to it, others are not. If you want to be able to afford groceries in five years, I’d recommend listening closely to the former and avoiding the latter. Just my two cents.”

Merit can be bought. Passion can’t.

“The only people who can change the world are people who want to. And not everybody does.”

Avoid the Watercooler Gang.

“They’re a well meaning bunch, but they get in the way eventually.”

Sing in your own voice.

“Picasso was a terrible colorist. Turner couldn’t paint human beings worth a damn. Saul Steinberg’s formal drafting skills were appalling. T.S. Eliot had a full-time day job. Henry Miller was a wildly uneven writer. Bob Dylan can’t sing or play guitar.”

The choice of media is irrelevant.

“Every medium’s greatest strength is also it’s greatest weakness. Every form of media is a set of fundamental compromises. One is not “higher” than the others. A painting doesn’t do much, it just sits there on a wall. That’s the best and worst thing about it. Film combines sound, movement, photography, music, acting. That’s the best and worst thing about it. Prose just uses words arranged in linear form to get its point across. That’s the best and worst thing about it, etc.”

Selling out is harder than it looks.

“Diluting your product to make it more “commercial” will just make people like it less.”

Nobody cares. Do it for yourself.

“Everybody is too busy with their own lives to give a damn about your book, painting, screenplay, etc., especially if you haven’t finished it yet. And the ones who aren’t too busy you don’t want in your life anyway.”

Worrying about “Commercial vs. Artistic” is a complete waste of time.

“You can argue about “Selling Out” versus “Artistic Purity” till the cows come home. People were kvetching about it in 1850, and they’ll be kvetching about it in 2150.”

Don’t worry about finding inspiration. It comes eventually.

“Inspiration precedes the desire to create, not the other way round.”

You have to find your own shtick.

“A Picasso always looks like Picasso painted it. Hemingway always sounds like Hemingway. A Beethoven symphony always sounds like a Beethoven symphony. Part of being a master is learning how to sing in nobody else’s voice but your own.”

Write from the heart.

“There is no silver bullet. There is only the love God gave you.”

The best way to get approval is not to need it.

“This is equally true in art and business. And love. And sex. And just about everything else worth having.”

Power is never given. Power is taken.

“People who are 'ready' give off a different vibe from people who aren’t. Animals can smell fear. And the lack thereof.”

Whatever choice you make, the Devil gets his due eventually.

“Selling out to Hollywood comes with a price. So does not selling out. Either way, you pay in full, and yes, it invariably hurts like hell.”

The hardest part of being creative is getting used to it.

“If you have the creative urge, it isn’t going to go away. But sometimes it takes a while before you accept the fact.”

Remain frugal.

“The less you can live on, the more chance your idea will succeed. This is true even after you’ve 'made it.'”

Allow your work to age with you.

“You become older faster than you think. Be ready for it when it happens.”

Being poor sucks.

“The biggest mistake young people make is underestimating how competitive the world is out there.”

Beware of turning hobbies into jobs.

“It sounds great, but there is a downside.”

Savor obscurity while it lass.

“Once you 'make it,' your work is never the same.

Start blogging.

“The ease with which a blog (or whatever social medium you prefer) can circumvent the gatekeepers is staggering.”

Meaning scales, people don’t.

"It may be modest, it may not be. It could be a little candle shop; it could be a software company with the GNP of Sweden. It doesn't matter. Meaning Scales."

When your dreams become reality, they are no longer your dreams.

“If you are successful, it’ll never come from the direction you predicted. Same is true if you fail.”

If this hit home with you, make sure to pick up a copy of Hugh's Book Ignore Everybody And 39 Other Keys to Creativity so you can get the full story behind each of these amazing statements!

Hugh Macleod is a cartoonist, author and creator of gapingvoid.com and Social Object Factory.  He currently has three amazing books for sale: Ignore Everybody And 39 Other Keys to Creativity, Evil Plans, and Freedom is Blogging in Your Underwear.