I used to tell our creative children to “discipline their art,” which meant they should write, paint, dance, sing, or sew even when they didn’t feel inspired. Now that they have grown into authors, poets, singers, and policemen, I’m telling their children that same thing. Three grandchildren are currently sending me drafts of their works in progress.
So, if you are looking for ways to discipline your own art (whatever that may be), here are five tips for the summer months.
1. Take a class – You can find them online, at your local library, in community colleges, or through various organizations. Even Home Depot offers classes in things like Tile & Grout in case your art tends toward the home improvement variety.
2. Find a mentor – my sister-in-law once saw a lady making jewelry at a flea market. She offered to pay for a few lessons and soon developed a thriving business of her own. Consider high school teachers who might be off for the summer and could tutor you in writing essays or playing piano.
3. Join a group – If you can’t find an artists’ colony or a writers’ critique group in your neighborhood, start your own. Check out Dan White’s annual 5in5 songwriting challenge for a great idea how to begin. (Dan takes disciplining your art to a ninja level during this week.)
4. Enter a contest – Grow a pumpkin for the county fair. Google “writing contests” or check the back of Writer’s Digest magazine. Plan to invest a nominal fee and have a good time.
5. Tell someone – The best way to procrastinate on a project is to keep it a secret. If you tell your office buddies you are crocheting a baby afghan this summer, they are going to ask to see the yarn at break time. In fact, you can start right now.
Use the Comments Section to tell us about your summer project. Then, discipline your art!
I am going to participate in “Art and Wine on Vine”, which is a class at West Winery in downtown Macon where you create an art project in one evening. I am going to paint for the first time! It is going outside my comfort zone, but I am thinking the glass of wine included in the $25 fee might help (or it might hurt, but I am up for the experience, anyway).
Wow! That is typically brave of you, Judy! You are always leaping into a new experience. Literally, most of the time. I’m eager to see what you produce. Maybe Vanita got her talent from you and we’ve never known it.
Not sure if this counts, but I’ve dedicated my lunch hour each day to working on all the chores around the house and homestead. There is so much to do to get the place back “in shape” that it feels overwhelming. I just decided to do as much as I can on a project, an hour at a time, until it is done. I’ve already cleared one whole fence row, including taking the fence out, buried three sections of drainage pipe, sorted all my books into bookshelves from the moving boxes that hadn’t been touched in five years, and kept up on weeding in the garden and flower beds. I know it’s not really a “craft” but it’s stuff that needs done. 🙂
I think homesteading is a tremendous art. I was actually thinking about you when I mentioned the county fair. You really do make gardening an artistic craft. And, I assume you are crafting poems in your head while you are clearing fence rows.