Preparing For Your Next Artistic Creation? Just Get On With It.
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by Les Anderson
Are you still preparing for your next artistic creation? So is Revo. Here is a creative story about a different kind of artist. 
According to the article as read by the town crier on Friday evening, Revo was receiving rave reviews for his latest work, The Laurel Beds. According to the critics, it was the greatest feat of artistic expression this century, maybe the greatest feat ever.Revo dined with the prince of Drapelis, and danced at the royal ball as a personal guest of Queen Shandora. He was recognized in the marketplace by rich and pauper alike. "Tell us about your work, The Laurel Beds", they would say. "Enlighten us to the intricacies of your artistic genius." It came easy for Revo. When he put his pen to the paper and brush to the canvas, The Laurel Beds flowed forth. All he did was move his hands and the genius flowed through his fingertips to the medium of his choosing. Revo gloried in his success. He received offers of free meals at the local inn, and all-he-could-drink from the tavern. He couldn't have been happier. That was seven years ago. The fervor had long ago waned. Revo now paid for his drinks at the tavern and his meals at the inn. Walking through the cobblestone streets in the evenings, he was still recognized by the townsfolk. "Evening, Revo." "Greetings to you, Revo." "Hello, Revo," came the salutations. The people still asked about his work even though they had not seen or heard anything new from Revo since his masterpiece, The Laurel Beds. "How's the new project coming along?" they would ask. "As soon as my studio is in shape, I'll reveal it to you," the enthusiastic reply would come. "You're going to love my next work. It will be better than the last. You'll see." Day after day Revo went to the marketplace to obtain items for his studio to facilitate his next creative project. "Is today the day?" the townsfolk would ask. "Soon," he would reply. It seemed Revo was always on the verge of his next newest, greatest, better-than-the-last artistic creation. Today Revo needed a different pencil than the ones he had in his studio. Yesterday, he bought a special eraser just in case he needed it for that special circumstance. Tomorrow, Revo planned to get a particular brush he had been wanting for some time. A week passed after he bought the brush. Then two weeks, then a month. Revo sat in his studio, pencil in hand. He listened to the clock ticking across the room. He adjusted his table to a different angle, the angle he used when creating The Laurel Beds. "I just need to get one of those shelves that attach to the table side," thought Revo to himself. "There I will keep my special eraser just in reach in case I need it." As he got up to go to the market, Revo noticed his table was smudged. He retrieved the cleaner and cloth and cleared his table for cleaning. More years passed as Revo continued to prepare his studio, his table and his supplies to receive the expression of his artistic genius. "When it is just so, I will begin," Revo would tell himself. "When it is just so." Now decades have passed. Late at night as the caravans pass Revo's cottage on the edge of town, passersby can still see the light on in Revo's studio. As they look closely, they see Revo, preparing his studio. Still preparing, ever preparing... Are you stuck in the preparation stage? Then stop preparing and stick your pencil to the paper, your brush to the canvas. If only Revo had done so, the genius would have flowed from his fingertips. The same is true of us. I have worked with some of the best artists in the world, in their own studios, at their own work stations. There were things at these studios that appeared to need straightening, cleaning, preparing. Thank goodness these artists stopped preparing to create and actually created. I have been blessed because they did. Make contact, pen to paper, brush to canvas, clay to the wheel. Start with the basics, the bowl, the stick figure, the once-upon-a-time. Just start. End the preparation and start. The creative juices will start to flow. It's not "easier said than done." It's easy. You're an artist! Quit the preparation and just get on with it! |
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Copyright © 2007-2008 Canvas and Pen / Levi's Rain™.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Copyright © 2007-2008 Canvas and Pen / Levi's Rain™.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.