How I Get Unstuck: The Story of the Painting Journals
Last fall I met with a group of women every week to discuss The Artist’s Way
I needed to hear this so badly, after a season of horrible writer’s block and a depression that was slowly beginning to lift. I needed to do something even if the sentences wouldn’t come to me quite yet. More than anything else, I needed to find a way to help these new ideas really stick. “Go back to your little people,” my mentor Marjory said, referring to the simple line drawings I created for a little zine I wrote with my sister the year before. “See what your drawings have to say to you now. Let your little people heal you.”
So that’s what I did. I woke up in the morning, took a shower, got dressed in my new ‘work’ clothes and went to a nearby coffeehouse with my paper, pens and a portable box of paints. If something came up that was particularly hard for me in the Artist’s Way or my life in general–I skipped my usual route of endlessly analyzing it with fifteen people on the phone and painted my heart away instead. It was my way of closing the chasm between body and mind. Before long I had two wirebound notebooks full of paintings and lots of advice to myself.
Over time, by surprise, whole sentences came back to me, like I thought they never would. And my paintings told little stories of the ways I was changing and becoming. I started this blog, in part, to tell some of those stories. But then there was the business with the scanner and two extra kids in my house and the squalor. I’m realizing I have to go back to the beginning and remember some of the things I learned a year ago. About getting up and going to work, about starting again, when you feel stuck. About giving myself permission to grow as an artist, especially since I am still a beginner in so many ways.
I feel shy to show these paintings to you, since they are imperfect doodles really, filled in with color. But they have been important in my becoming, and they’ve made me so happy. Maybe something here will inspire you to begin again, too, with a little less fear about being perfect. Here are two pages called “Getting unstuck.” Click through and you can see them upclose and personal on Flickr.
What helps you get unstuck–in your writing, your art or your life in general? Airblown kisses in the comments for all who wish to answer.
October 21st, 2006 at 9:15 am
I love this! Thanks for sharing! You need to put all those pieces into a book some time.
I’m a big fan of Julia Cameron. I once taught an eight week creativity workshop where I used The Artist’s Way (among other things) to help the eight incredible women unleash their creativity. It was the most amazing experience - I can’t wait to do it again. The women were blown away by their own ability to create, but I think I was the most “unleashed” of any of us by that experience. Once I have the time, I’m planning to revive it.
What do I do to get me unstuck? I do morning pages. I do like you suggest and set a regular time for creating. I go on an artist’s date. Or - like one of the creativity books I read (can’t remember which one) suggested - I find something really mundane and routine to do for a few hours (like sorting old photos, or folding laundery) and it frees my mind to wander.
October 21st, 2006 at 9:42 am
Oh you silly, silly girl — how BEAUTIFUL are these “doodles”? Count me as another person who thinks you are amazing, creative and gutsy, even if you feel like you aren’t!
K.
October 21st, 2006 at 11:06 am
i do something completely wild. i force myself to get up and dance to a song. i make a mixed cd, filled with songs like “I’m free” by amber, and i close my eyes and write whatever words come to mind. i go nuts and start cutting up old magazines, finding words that i love.
you are a beautiful artist
October 21st, 2006 at 11:13 am
I love seeing the watercolors again — maybe you could dole them out, a page at a time each week, for all of us!
Showing up, being present, sitting down and doing the work — opening the spot in my life to do the work lets the creativity pour out. That, and treating it as play!
October 21st, 2006 at 3:06 pm
Yippeeee!!!! To see these in this space is the best way to start a weekend. Many congratulations on getting them up, and of course on painting them and all the rest of the luscious pages in those books. I can’t wait for everyone to see them ALL.
October 21st, 2006 at 11:49 pm
Those are just doodles? They are amazing … it looks so wonderful … very cheery …
October 22nd, 2006 at 10:59 am
Luscious, luscious, LUSCIOUS!
What a prayer to see these colors and words dancing together on the page. Wahoo for you!
October 22nd, 2006 at 3:08 pm
Sometimes I let “stuck” be ok. I figure it’s like sleeping..may not seem productive, but ultimately it is. If it’s just a glitch, I pick up some fabric and make a spirit doll for someone I love. This gets me out of myself and thinking of which beads, baubles and threads to play with.
Writing glitches are harder. I write 3 sentences…walk around…write a couple of paragraphs…um, blog..read magazines…make a spirit doll. I’m in a glitch now with an article due tomorrow. Here I am.
October 23rd, 2006 at 11:15 am
When I get stuck, it’s usually because I am trying to create selfishly (i.e. my house is a complete mess and I have homework to do for my MBA classes). My art is still a hobby. I have a full-time job and take night classes, so I have to squeeze out a little creative time for myself each week, and I can’t seem to get started when I’m feeling guilty about what I haven’t taken care of. But, when I follow through on my daily routines and keep the chaos at bay in the house and my family is fed and my homework done, the creative juices flow much more freely. So, for me, the stress & guilt of not taking care of things is a block. Sometimes I’ll be sneaky and just straighten things up in my line of sight from my studio table (I use the term studio very loosely since it is located in the spare bedroom).
Thank you for sharing these pages…they are beautiful and fun!
October 23rd, 2006 at 5:40 pm
Your drawings remind me of SARK books. I love that woman.
October 23rd, 2006 at 5:58 pm
When I get stuck, I just play something so I can enjoy the SOUND I make. Anything. Noodles, etudes, Gershwin, scales, single notes whatever. No thinking, no tweaking, no analysis. Eyes closed. Just blissful sound waves washing over my ears.
And good grief, if those are just doodles to you your art must be creatively mind-blowing!!!!!!!! They’re gorgeous!
October 25th, 2006 at 1:09 am
These days, when I get stuck, I am practicing relaxing into the stuckness. Looking it in the eye. Breathing. Making note of the situation: stuck. But no analysis allowed. No running away from or toward. Of course, I do not succeed at any of this.
Having experienced your beautiful words and colors and patterns, I wonder if I, too, could sit down with my stuckness, do a little doodling together, and see what happens.
October 25th, 2006 at 6:24 am
[…] First, before you read any further, go take a peek at Jen Lemen’s blog post on her journal pages about getting unstuck (scroll down a bit to see them). Such delightful, playful, yummy stuff. I’ll wait here until you get back. . . […]
October 25th, 2006 at 7:46 pm
This is a thought=provoking post and your art is inspiring and fun.
November 14th, 2006 at 7:38 pm
i found your website today via superhero…
and wow, it feels like a whole new world, you know?
thank you for letting me explore this beautifully written, colourful, heartsoaked world of yours.
it encourages me to be even more of me.