Welcome!

Earlier this month, Amber Ginsburg and I brought a game we call Practical Pursuit to NCECA to facilitate a discussion with other artists on the concept of practice. A single question and/or quotation in 1 of 3 categories (Material, Action, Word) was attached to a slim slice of brick (this was a clay conference, after all!) and placed face down on a table. Players took turns picking random bricks to which the group responded.
Thanks, first of all, to the folks who joined us in Philly. What interesting ideas and insights you all shared with us!
This new blog is an attempt to keep the conversation alive, welcome artists of all ilk to join in, and to maintain some momentum in the ongoing evolution of our practices, regardless of where we are in our individual careers.

I so hope you will join in, share your own insights, wisdom and struggles. Thanks in advance, and welcome!!

What holds you back?

Procrastination, doubt, feeling the need to resolve the concept of a piece before beginning, fear of being boring - the list of obstacles goes on and on (and on and on...) Lately, it's been all of the above.
Oddly, what is helping me move forward is the practice of establishing arbitrary limits. Setting a timer to see what I can accomplish in 15 minutes, an hour, or whatever makes sense for the task at hand can get me over that greatest of hurdles: Getting Started. Picking 2 or 3 colored pencils and seeing just how many colors I can mix from them somehow makes sketching more inspiring than allowing myself access to the whole set.
Most helpful at the moment has been to recognize that the Creative Development Life Cycle (CDLC) has many phases that occur best when they do not occur simultaneously. There is a time for planning, a time for making, a time for critiquing; they are NOT the same time.
Recently someone in the studio asked me what I was making. I looked at the small sculpture I was carving, thought for a moment, and said, "One of these."
"Yes, but what is it?" she asked.
I smiled as I replied, "I have no idea what it is; I'm only making it right now. I'll figure out what it is after it is made." I'm not sure my friend appreciated the answer, but I felt a little surge of delight, realizing I was keeping myself free to dream and wander with my hands by limiting myself to one phase of the process at a time.

So, what holds you back? Have you found any useful limits lately?