Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Yes, Virginia, ideas can run out...


In 2010 a series of survey questions were posted on my blog as a means of ‘taking the pulse’ of the online art community. More than 40 questions were posed and the results of the survey were presented as sidebars in my book The Pulse of Mixed Media: Secrets and Passions of 100 Artists Revealed. The survey tapped into a range of issues, both practical and psychological, related to being an artist today.


In Pulse Points, my newest series continuing here today on Create Mixed Media, select survey questions from the book were presented to several different groups of artists working in mixed media and beyond. 

Today's rockstar panel includes: Lisa Engelbrecht, Sue Pelletier, Veronica Funk, Jen Worden, and Claudia Roulier.  

Today's questions and original survey results from The Pulse of Mixed Media:

Have you ever experienced an artist block (and if so, how have you dealt with it)?
Yes…81%
No...19%

Do you worry about running out of ideas?
Not an issue at all…58%
Sometimes crosses my mind…32%
It is a constant fear…10%

And a taste of what our panel members had to say:

Lisa Engelbrecht: "Doubts will come in when this happens - I'm not really an artist, am I?" 

Sue Pelletier: "I have experienced artist block, usually when I am creating something for someone other than myself." 

Veronica Funk: "I felt absolute exhaustion with how difficult it could be to heed to the desires of the art world." 

Jen Worden: "I am here to tell you, unfortunately, that you can run out of ideas." 

Claudia Roulier: "Usually my problem isn't having too few ideas but trying to find the very best one." 

Head on over to Create Mixed Media to hear much more of what the panel has to say about these issues. You can also read the first four posts in the series if you missed them. And if you would like, please share your own experiences in the comment sections here or at CMM.

4 comments:

Caterina Giglio said...

very interesting responses... I never considered being able to run out of ideas, but running out of time to do everything I want.... now that vexes me...

Jo Murray said...

Ideas are not generally a problem, but how to execute them sometimes is. It's hard to completely dismiss doubt about your own abilities.

Parabolic Muse said...

Yes, this is such a big issue. I think a lot of us assume we don't have any ideas, but basically we just need a quiet mind, and then images and ideas come to us. I haven't really run out of ideas, but I definitely have to write them down or I'll forget the ones I get!

Beth Rommel said...

Sometimes I am not sure if I have run out of ideas or have run out of good ideas. Lots of input from others can put me in a tailspin. I ask for advice then have a hard time editing it so have finally learned to trust myself and explore alone. Easier said than done:)