Techniques for Becoming Unstuck

(We all need them)...

Last week I met with some of the AccessArt team, to begin to develop a curriculum for ages 11 to 14. The task we have given ourselves is to create a curriculum which helps young teenagers, and their teachers, to explore what “art” might really mean to them, and to use this insight to plan topics which focus on igniting a personal understanding of art, which inspires energy and enthusiasm.

As part of this exploration, we are very aware that alongside the widening of understanding and perception, what we are trying to empower these teenagers with is a collection of tools which they (and again, teachers) can use to keep moving their creativity forward, with momentum.

I thought it might be useful, for ourselves as creative adults who are also trying to maintain a state of being “unstuck”, to gather a few suggestions as to how we might keep ourselves gently spinning on our orbits, in such a way which feels creatively fulfilling.

We’ll expand upon these ideas in more detail in future Substacks, and if you have suggestions which have worked for you, then please do share :)

For When You Lose Confidence In What Makes You You…
Map Yourself

Sidney Hall’s (1831) astronomical chart illustration of the Pisces. Original from Library of Congress, USA

Sometimes we are stuck because we have not given ourselves enough time to appreciate what makes us, us. By making (some kind) of map of all the things which light us up, and how they interact with each other, we can begin to build, appreciate, and invest in, our sense of self.

For When You Feel Panicky…
Touch Stuff

Sometimes we get stuck in our heads. We cast around for insight, or to find an idea to grasp on to, so we can move forward, but these are “heady” actions. Grounding ourself in materials can help soothe and allow the intelligence of the body to move through us. We don’t even have to “make,” we can just “hold” or “play”. Whatever your “element” - paint, fabric, words, light… acknowledge it’s presence. Bathe yourself in it.

For When You Are Drained…
Change Your Physicality

Reclining Young Woman in Spanish Costume (1862–63), Édouard Manet.

Sometimes, and without knowing it, we approach our creativity with caution and trepidation. It’s scary showing up. But approaching work in this way is draining. Sometimes, we show up at our desks or in our studios carrying that caution in our bodies. Change the energy with which you show up. Instead of sitting at the desk, move. Try moving your materials too, so that you have to walk around your space to pick up something you need. Imagine the energy as a mist around you. Don’t let that mist stagnate. Whip it up - gently or otherwise, to see where it lands.

For When You Are Feeling OK…
Write Lists For When You Don’t

Section of a Colour Guide, Based on Varley's List of Colours

Sometimes we feel just ok enough… We have tiny moments of clarity when we “know” what something is. It might be a small thing, but that’s ok. We can hang on to these tiny things that we know, and expand them outwards. But, we only know them fleetingly… they are easily ignored, crushed, or lost in the panic. So write them down. Keep them safe.

For When You Are Not Feeling OK…
Read The Lists You Made Above, and Trust Again

For When You Are Feeling “Open” But Overwhelmed…
Curate

Picture gallery, Metropolitan Fair, N.Y.C by Mathew Brady.

Sometimes we feel open, almost too open. Ideas flow through us, but it can be hard to pin things down, or to commit. At these times curating can be a helpful tool. Sketchbooks, walls, phones… collect, place, move. Create pairs, families, conversations. Resonances…

For When You Feel Alone…
”Workshop” Yourself

The Wave

Sometimes we need to get out of ourselves. Workshops do this for us - they present us with a structure from which to operate, and at the same time they take away the pressure of knowing what our work is “about”. Create workshops for yourself. They might last ten minutes, a day, a week. They should take you on a new journey which seems unrelated to your work, but which, when you land back on your own shore, has slightly changed you.

Or,

Connect. Have a conversation. Purposely look outwards. Create the same thing you need, for an other.

For When Nothing Matters Enough…
Externalise More

Insects and the Head of a Wind God (1590–1600) Joris Hoefnagel.

Sometimes we talk ourselves out of everything we are thinking, and before we know it, it has all vanished. The key is to try to externalise more. In sketchbooks, in notebooks, by collecting, by taking photos. Give everything the chance to exist and grow, by at least allowing it to land somewhere. Trust you will develop the skills to edit, but for now, externalise more.

For When Enough’s Enough…
Lighten Up and Walk Away

Fishing village from Momoyogusa–Flowers of a Hundred Generations (ca. 1909–1910) by Kamisaka Sekka.

Sometimes we need to know when to stop. We are not machines. We haven’t vowed to do this. We can walk away - for an afternoon, a week, a year. Even for a life time. By giving ourselves space, and taking away the pressure to perform, we can often invite the joy back in.

The bigger skill is perhaps, in learning to tune in, to understand the ways in which you might be stuck, and what it is that you might need…