Just take the leap!

I remember when I was little, despite countless people insisting that I focus on just one discipline within “the arts,” all I really wanted to find was a way for me to connect all the mediums I enjoyed creating with into a final project that reflected my process as well as the image or idea I envisioned. Through middle school, high school, and even a summer program that I had to audition for, no one seemed to understand that for me, when I presented just a drawing or sculpture or poem, it was only part of what I had created.

Later, during middle school and high school, I would occasionally get some artist I admired to grant me an interview. Among my collection of questions, I always asked about the details of their creative processes. I was surprised to find that some visual artists preferred complete silence, another told me that when he drew he would pick just one song and play it on repeat over and over while he drew. I tried both of these techniques and neither of them were inspiring for me.

Unfortunately for me, I never got even mediocrely passable at playing an instrument … if I had, my poetry might have become songs and maybe I’d be playing with a band right now instead of traveling with some show as a stagehand. But even though I don’t make music, it has always remained an important part of my creative process. I could go one for pages about music, but that’s not what I’m here to write about today.

Today, I’m taking the leap and writing at least once a week and working on visual art every day. Hopefully, I will learn a bunch of new techniques and maybe find some other artists to share stories with.