ART// Showing Up for My Art
EMBRACING BEING A PERFECTLY IMPERFECT CREATIVE
I recently stumbled across an inspiring creative, Amie McNee, and her podcast Unpublished. In some of the episodes, Amie talked about the need to promote her new book We Need Your Art (which is being released in March and I’m super excited to read). She decided to set herself a challenge of 100 days of showing up for and championing her art.
As creatives we are often our own worst enemies. We might be consistently making art, but we are doing ourselves a disservice if we aren’t sharing that art.
I’m guilty of it.
I’ve used just about every excuse under the sun.
It isn’t finished yet. And it may never be finished. I don’t want to share it prematurely.
I might enter it in a competition, and I want it to be a surprise. More often than not I don’t enter it in a competition, and it sits in a corner of my house gathering dust and waiting for its opportunity to ‘surprise’ the unsuspecting spiders in the corner.
It’s terrible. Horrible. Everyone will hate it.
What if no-one likes it/comments on it/ever mentions it again? Am I like that philosophical debate about the tree that falls in the forest? If a piece of art is shared on Instagram and no-one is around to comment on it…was it ever really shared? Did I even post it?
What if someone DOES like it? Oh no, then I might be pigeon-holed into being an artist who can replicate that kind of art again and again.
Will anyone even be interested? I’m going to bore people. I’m boring.
I got sick of it.
Sick of the negative thought death spiral that sucks the creativity right out of you. Sick of being afraid of the outcome. Sick of thinking I hadn’t done enough/painted enough/learnt enough.
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So - enter Sunday the 9th of February 2025.
A fairly benign day as far as Sundays go. Nothing spectacular happened, I had no amazing weekend plan or adventure to share, no incredible insight or witty remark to post.
But I did have this niggling little thought in the back of my mind. A tiny kernel, a seed of a thing…a little voice asking…‘what if’? What if I tried it? What if I just started showing up? What if I started my own challenge of 100 Days of Showing Up for My Art?
Don’t overthink it. Just start.
So I did.
It was that simple.
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A week in and you know what has surprised me the most?
I actually *secretly* kind of love it.
My posts aren’t polished. My hair does what it wants in videos. My camera work is dodgy. But I don’t care.
What you see is what you get. My creativity and I - unfiltered, raw, gritty, determined, real. And there is so much I want to share about my process, inspiration, influences, mediums and how I am living a creative life.
I don’t mind if my ‘audience’ happens to only be about five close family and friends. It feels right for me. If I can inspire even one of those five people, then my efforts are not wasted.
My art is not wasted. Say that again Krystelle.
My art is not wasted.
So, if you are looking for a permission slip to show up in this world as a beautiful, messy, wonderful, perfectly imperfect creative – then here it is. Your sign has arrived in great big flashing lights.
Go for it. You can do this.
There is space in this world for your art and the world needs your magic.
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