Find Your Artistic Voice: The Essential Guide to Working Your Creative Magic

When we are in the process of finding our artistic voice, we are almost constantly straddling the planes of belonging and independence, of being part of a movement and having our own unique form of expression, of emulating artists we admire and breaking away from them.

I think so much of it is realizing that your experiences are valid. Start by owning your story.

The truth is, when we first start something, it can feel wholly uncomfortable. It can even feel risky! What if we fail? When we have an idea for what we want to create (perhaps related to whatever gave us the spark and the urge to make something in the first place), the end result we envision is often so far from what we have the skills to do. So w

I am someone who draws and paints nearly every day, sometimes multiple times a day, even when I’m not “working” (I also draw when on vacation or at night while I’m watching TV), so taking a few weeks away from my art supplies and studio was a big mental shift.

My more limited palette is one of the ways my work is consistent.

Most artists are so busy simply attempting to produce satisfying work or make a living that they forget that, ultimately, they are making work to communicate their own version of the truth. We make work that mirrors our own deeply held ideas about the world.

The other half of the program, Tharp intentionally leaves a mystery until she arrives. She doesn’t plan what music she’ll be using or which dancers she’ll be working with. She won’t even think about the lighting or costumes until she arrives. The large white room will become her motivation to create something brand new.

Keep a growing list of all the artists you find yourself wanting to mimic.

Creative thinking happens in most people, but what differentiates most productive artists from the rest of the population is that they are compelled to do something with their ideas, and they are also usually able to work through fears about not being ready or not having the right set of tools.