My second blog post as a creative contributor at the MMCA Marketplace has recently been posted.
The theme of the post is a topic that I feel is a big part of fostering creativity: embracing mistakes.
"As artists, there are many things we can be taught: technique, composition, and color theory to name a few. As I have spent more time making art, the more knowledge I have gained. But I have not only learned the “right way” to do things. I have also learned the “wrong way.” And by this I mean mistakes. No. I did not have to learn how to MAKE mistakes…that came naturally. But what I have come to understand is how important it is to EMBRACE mistakes. And in some ways, this lesson has been one of the most important I have learned."
You can read the rest of the post at this link. And while you are there, look around as there are many treasures to be found at MMCA.
26 comments:
Wonderful, I can put a link on to this when I start my last swap before the summer vacation: art failures.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40420677@N06/4419772798/in/pool-1323649@N21
seth, that's some awesome texture and color in the top pic...
Dear Seth,
It seems that I have missed so very much by not having my laptop these past two months and having to rely on a much older and slower desktop computer that is not very earth friendly.
I just had a look at The Marketplace to see these wonderful images that has my heart singing with delight and my mind racing with ideas.
I just noticed the word verification: prize — your work as always is top notch and deserves the prize.
Thank you for sharing,
Egmont
Funny how the embracing of mistakes works for art and for life...one of the best lessons we can learn for either.
One of the big reasons I started my blog was to document my mistakes. Originally my plan was not for anyone else to view the post, but to keep it as a visual electronic diary. Now I find that others appreciate that I am fallible, and at times incompetent. So, yes, mistakes are valuable lessons learned along our art journeys.
I think that top photo is wonderful. It looks like the peeling paint on the wood siding of my house before I painted it.
great article, seth! and so true! i don't know where i'd be without "happy accidents"
Mistakes - and making the best from them - is the road to success. - me
my mantra - don't be afraid to make bad art - it's the only way to the good :)
Most of the time, these days, I don't even think of the word mistake. If something is different or going in a different direction or turned out unplanned I realize it's because I haven't LISTENED to the piece. I've been trying to control, will it, push it, what ever when it's been telling me that isn't what it is, or where it wants to go or be.
I've been learning with age and a little wisdom to LET BE. They only "mistake" is NOT allowing the art to be what it is meant to be. :)Bea
Some great things have come out of what is perceived as a mistake. Nice post.
Thanks for the link to the MMCA Marketplace, and I enjoyed your post! Cynthia
love the top image texture--the eye of deep waters, crackling open to sight.
how do we really really know what is a mistake anyway? We are always repeating the known...
Very wise, and very lucky that you make such beautiful 'mistakes'.
It was no mistake reading your post today or your super MMCA article! But, without looking in my handy dictionary- mistake looks like a "Miss" take. However, it really is selecting a perceived "miss" take - and making the decision to actually "take it" to another place- and you keep it. I think art is the continuum of expression of your vision, ideas or an emotion or feeling- with risk, yes, but also, having the confidence to listen to your inner voice on what you as an individual love and are happy with.
Seth, Holding that article as a draft until the posting date was really hard as I knew it would be a big hit. It made me stop and think....and I appreciate that in a big way! The images you shared were fantastic. Looking forward to next months article. Thanks for the MP promo too!
i can't "learn" anything if i don't try it, too, really!! and when i try something new, i've learned i have to be ready for wherever that takes me, even into "ooops!"... then the trick is to stop, and LOOK, for me...and maybe see that it's not a mistake at all. new eyes. going to MMCA to read the article...congrats on this fresh and widening endeavor!
Seth, you wrote about what happens to every artist. I have a piece I'm working on now and I'm stuck because I worry about ruining what I have down but it is far from finished. So I will just paint with abandon. Your article was just the inspiration I needed.
Thank you.
so true!! and sometimes 'mistakes' can be the best part of a project, opening doorways to whole new processes and discoveries. Love the colors and textures in your image - was that the result of a 'mistake'?!
very wise indeed!
someone coined the phrase
"flopportunities" ... always Loved that
embracing Wabi Sabi
headed to read the article!
oxo
stellar artwork and article! Congrats! My best pieces often start out as so-called mistakes. The "what-if" approach saves me every time.
Think I'm with Jill here in that mistakes and confidence seem to go hand in hand. It's about having the confidence to listen to the inner you and let yourself be guided by the piece, having the confidence to try and not worry about making mistakes and learning from them once you do.In truth there are no failures only learning exercises.
Mistakes are great! If one cannot make a better piece out of it, then recycle it into another artpiece. I do it all the time.
So much wisdom in those words Seth:) -- those mistakes can lead to magic, don't you think?
Glad you enjoyed the article -- that was such a fun day that Susanna and I had in your hometown. You live in the BEST place!
And the ladder story -- still gives me chills.
Once again gentle man you have written from your heart...are there mistakes? You have shown us all how to take the advantage of this opportunity to explore a stumble. I have that photograph you commented on a month ago and I have definitely stumbled...now I feel I might go back and just see what happens:O). Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart
it often happens that way...you 'make a mistake' in your art, and it 'turns into' something vital to the finished piece. As the wise master turtle says in "Kung Fu Panda" "There are no mistakes."
love your art, no mistake about it :)
Good point, Seth. I've taken some time out to experiment with my art and have given myself permission to make mistakes but there is something that doesn't quite sit right when it comes to making mistakes. I still feel an uneasiness about it even though my mistakes can be chopped up and used in another piece.
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