What is Your Focus?
Fri, March 30, 2012 at 11:23AM “She says it is a good thing to have no sense of how it is done in the things that amuse you. You should have one absorbing occupation and as for the other things in life for full enjoyment you should only contemplate results. In this way you are bound to feel more about it than those who know a little of how it is done.”
Gertrude Stein, The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
You might have noticed that I work in a lot of mediums.
My flow of creativity gets channeled in different directions. I literally bounce between mediums. You can see this in my chain of blog posts. It's all over the map. It's even on a map. The freedom of hopping around, of trying new things, experimenting, playing, inspires me, and it works for me. I like the variety, the mix, the variation in technique, texture, everything.
I delve a bit into a lot of different things. PHOTOGRAPHY. Photography. Art technique videos. Photshop. PEN & INK: Doodles. Cityscapes. Mandalas. Maps. Lettering. WATERCOLOR: Abstract. Mandalas. ACRYLIC. Abstract. Doodles. ART JOURNALING. Everything. BOOKS. Altering books into journals. Stitched journals. SEWING. Abstract. Art quilts. EMBROIDERY. CREATING STAMPS.
What do you do? Can it be categorized in any way? Are you working at macro or micro level?
Getting really good at something, is that your goal? If you read Outliers, you need about 10,000 hours of practice to get amazingly good. K. Anders Ericsson finds that (per Wikipedia) "expert performers acquire their superior performance by extended deliberate practice."
Working and focusing all of your creative time and energy in just one medium, you could become a brilliant dressmaker, a brilliant calligrapher, a brilliant urban sketch artist, a brilliant jewelry designer.
Getting even more focused within a medium, you could get darned amazing at something specific. A calligrapher of hand-lettered wedding invitations. A quilter of inspiring baby quilts. A cartoonist of a family of adventuring kangaroos. A knitter of elaborate silk spiderweb shawls. An illustrator of tiny print fabrics. A designer of wrought iron gates. {Trying to keep the type of artist at the front of the sentence, bear with me on the grammar.}
Going deeper, more to the micro level, many artists focus their expertise on one thing. They create their own unique style and double down. Put all of their energy in one basket. They do one thing incredibly well, make a bunch of variations of of that one thing, or series of things. They get incredibly good. The focus is intense, driving variations of that one thing that are wondrous. How many ways can you make a lower case "g" and what could a cartoon kangaroo family do? If you draw a standalone cartoon, you pick one adventure. If you draw the kangaroos every day, you start opening windows and ideas flow in.
Do you want to go broad, go deep, go sideways? There is no right or wrong. But a path, a direction, a way forward? That's a good thing. A motivator. If you work in a lot of different mediums, is that how you want to continue, or do you want to narrow down and focus?
Reader Comments (10)
I work in a lot of mediums on the new art journal project. So far I've done all of eight pages and have paint backgrounds on some, watercolor backgrounds on some, a mix of both with some ink thrown in on some, marker on one, scrapbook paper on some and junk mail on one.
But my tendency is to bounce between projects. The art journal, now three unfinished scrapbooks, and cooking creations.
{Tammy}: Ellen, Three cheers for bouncing, it makes us versatile artists!
Hmmmm. Hyper-macro? Is that a term? ;-) Seriously, I'm like you - I am all over the place with spastic sporadic interests that flux and flow with no rhyme or reason ... and there's no way I could be pinpoint specific to one ANYthing. I don't have ADD but ... look a shiny butterfly! ;-p
XOX gem
{Tammy}: Gem, I agree that it's not creative ADD, it's this never-ending curiosity and desire to "see what happens" and explore and experiment. I am happy that there are others bouncing along too!
mmm at first I was not sure, but put some thought in it and the journaling will make a fun journal page LOL.
Macro: scrapbooking and art journaling.
micro: scrapbooking includes taking photos and developing, then preplanning pages, putting stuff together for each page, lastly actually making the pages. I have projects/scrapbooks at all those stages.
micro: art journaling includes developing photos, collecting bits of life and ideas, gesso and paint pages, make deeper backgrounds, start some pages, 4 or 5 art journals on the go at any time.
this works for me as I have MS and i don't always feel like doing a big project, i can make a tag or atc or zentangle on a pre-existing page and I am still creating, which is so essential to my overall well being.
{Tammy}: Deb, I love how you've analyzed the components of your work, and so, so true. I didn't even consider the photography as a component to art journaling but indeed photos are becoming more integral to my pages. I'm not a fan of big-projects-all-at-once but yes, tiny steps, good stuff!
I don't jump as easily between mediums, but I do jump around within a medium. Maybe because it takes me a while to wrap my head around each new venture, I like to explore it in different ways until I can do something that satisfies me (although that doesn't take a lot). I've worked the longest in fiber (quilting then knitting then felting) and only recently focused on paint and ink. I feel I've been circling this one a long time because as I slowly integrate years of "art supply" stock piling, I'm finding all kinds of buried treasures. It's probably a good time for all of those to come together because so many people are working in mixed media today.
But in everything I've done, it's the doing it that matters. The process of creation is what feeds me. So each medium has suited where I was, physically and emotionally. My mother used to make fantastic quilts and women were always saying to her, "I've always wanted to make a quilt, but I don't have the patience." Her answer was always the same, "If I didn't enjoy doing it, I wouldn't do it." I like the product aspect of creation, but it is the process that brings me back again and again.
So I guess what I'm saying is, I think for people who become masters in one area, it's really a question of them just not being able NOT to do that. It drives them with that intensity to really explore that. But for some of us, our drive goes off in another direction. Is fed by fresh perspectives or applications. Does that make sense?
{Tammy}: Lizzie Bo, What a thought-provoking response! Yes, I agree wholeheartedly and hadn't considered that the folks who work intently in one area need that as much as I need to bounce around. The drive to focus and master, the drive to explore.
Focus? what focus? Rather than calling myself scattered I think I'll call myself VERSATILE - the McGyver of the arts and crafts world.
but I really like what Lizzie Bo is saying. It really is all about the DOING for me. the pure joy of creating. I can't NOT create. even when I didn't think of myself as artistic, I was always making something. always. and I think that's enough. I'm not sure I even know what mastery would look like, but I sure do recognize the exhilarating thrill of making, trying, doing. and then doing some more.
plus I like the image of you literally bouncing between mediums - like tigger. here goes Tammy leaping from her sewing machine - boing! - over to her acrylics - boing! - over to her gel pens - boing! boing! boing!
{Tammy}: Karen, Great imagery - Tammy + Tigger bouncing around the house, thanks for that! I am 100% with you, it's the doing, the process, the color, the texture, the everything about art.
This is one problem ( if it can be addressed as one) that I face. Everyday I try to create something as that gives me joy. But I juggle with different mediums. Watercolor- art journalling - jewelry, a little bit of this and that, but not a master of any specific art. Then I feel that for me this is a journey to find the right medium, the one that I'll continue learning and practicing forever. Meanwhile I cannot wait doing nothing, so I do bits and pieces of all that I find ineteresting and finds happiness in them.
{Tammy}: I understand the desire to find the "right" medium, the one that fits perfectly; maybe the right medium is just the one you use at that moment. It's an intriguing question, Susan. I do think that for me I no longer believe that I will find just one medium.
You have read my mind...Literally..Today I was thinking.. What is wrong with me?? why can't I decide what I want to do... just one thing and do it?! I have read "Outliers" , Julia Cameron, "The War of Art", " The Path of Least Resistance" by Fritz and on and on. I work with wire, acrylic, pastel, chalk, fabric, canvas, paper, wood... and on and on.. AND its drivin me crazy! So much more I want to learn, to perfect, to teach... Then Of course I stumble over here again...and find all kinds of new things I want to do! How will I ever "be" an "artist" if I don't stick to one thing... but then...there's Da Vinci... Who's life reminds me, I am an "artist". I sense a desire to live a life without edges, boundaries, barriers...to allow the creativity to flow and flourish.. finally...to breathe
{Tammy}: Sandy, Perhaps there is a way to combine several mediums that you adore? For example, sometimes I combine drawing with watercolor or stitching with art journaling. You indeed are an artist, and you work in multiple mediums. Look what we are doing to ourselves. If we were writers, would we scold ourselves for writing poetry AND short fiction AND cartoons?
Everyone's words resonate with me. I tend to jump, slide or gravatate to lots of mediums (or mediums within mediums), not concentrating on one in particular. I haven't found "the one" I want to focus or stay focused on. Perhaps that's why I haven't found the one that I feel I work the best in. Perhaps it really doesn't matter. I see so much"stuff" that catches my eye out there and I say, "I want to try that," which causes me to get sidetracked. I feel I am a gatherer, wildly gathering, lots of information, color, ideas up in my arms until I need to stop and throw it down. But throw it down in a good way. Because I have so many restrictions, regulations in my full time job, I don't set or have demands, rules, limitatons, or bounderies, when I come home to my creative space to play. That I am DOING and SHOWING UP is what matters and makes me most happy.
{Tammy}: Jo, Well said. I love that your art and creative play balance out the restrictiveness of your job. For those of us that love working in a variety of mediums and mediums within mediums (I like that phrase), there is definitely the sense of play and hopping around and trying new things. Just as others are driven to focus on one thing and do that to the exclusion of all others.
I'm a bounce all over the place and use all sorts of different mediums kinda girl too.
Do I wish I could become amazing at something? Yes. Do I have the focus and desire to only practice one kind of art? Nope. I'm here to have fun and let out whatever my heart wants to share.
Fantastic post Tammy! Thank you!! xx
I'm more of an all over the place kind of artist. Sometimes I'll focus on one line of thinking for a while, but before I know it, I'm off and running in another direction as a new idea gets sparked! It's interesting to stop for a minute and think about how I approach art. While I've been aware of my tendency to try all kinds of things, it's mostly because I just go where the wind blows, so to speak. I've never really sat down and thought about being more strategic about making art, or focusing on one thing to build skill. Not sure I could commit to one specific practice long-term, but worth considering! Great post!