For some, the act of creating art is a natural talent that, when nurtured from a young age, results in artistic confidence as an adult \u2013 often confidence across a range of different artistic mediums: sewing, knitting, painting, illustrating, photography.<\/p>\n
For others, the act of creating art is something that\u2019s often a source of anxiety.<\/p>\n
\u201cWill it look awful?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWill they judge me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t draw.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t paint\u201d.<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t matter who you are, everyone has a creative side. Some nurture this creativity and turn it into a profession. Some enjoy creating art as a hobby. Others simply refuse to or are not interested in giving it a go.<\/p>\n
And then there are those who want to, but can\u2019t bear the thought of what the end result might look like \u2013 awful, ugly, a mess, embarrassing. All those harsh judgements we like to place on ourselves.<\/p>\n
Because, regardless of whether it’s contemporary art, realism or impressionist we all<\/em> love to judge art. No matter how bad we may be at producing art ourselves, everyone\u2019s an art critic.<\/p>\n \u2018Hate it!\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Too much pink!\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018A child could\u2019ve drawn that!\u2019<\/p>\n ‘I could\u2019ve drawn that!\u2019<\/p>\n But you didn\u2019t…<\/p>\n Regardless of whether you share it or not, the ‘doing’ of art makes you vulnerable. People will judge you. And you will judge yourself.<\/p>\n Often even those who appreciate art would never dream of giving it a go. It takes courage to let go of one\u2019s need for perfectionism and mastery and simply revel in the joy of creativity and colour.<\/p>\n If you haven\u2019t seen it yet, Brene Brown\u2019s Ted Talk \u2018The power of vulnerability\u2019, which has over 18 million views on Ted and another 3 million views on YouTube, is worth checking out prior to venturing into your next (or first) art project. It’s inspiring x 1000. Personally, I’ve listened to it no less than 10 times over the last 3 years.<\/p>\n