No not that F word… another one, equally as dangerous… scarier even…. Failure. I had a realization today talking to another artist that for essentially a long time I felt like I had failed because I wasn’t doing what I went to school for. That it took me a long time to start doing something anything because I was trapped in the mindset I had to do what I was trained for in school. 
A Piece from my grad show. Porcelain paper clay Nests.
My art making days ended pretty much the day I graduated, I tried to pick it up here and there but they were FAILED attempts adding to my ever growing definition of failure. It also seemed that I had missed the point of art school because what was the point if I couldn’t do art.
I had missed the point of school (this goes for most secondary institutions), creative thinking, problem solving, working through obstacles, thinking outside the box. To be an artist or a scientist (shout out to my husband) you have to be flexible… Solutions are rarely obvious, life is not a sitcom.
And the obvious was to start doing something, baby steps, one thing one day and build onto that the next. Honestly it took me a longtime to figure that out. If I wasn’t doing Art with a capital A, then I wasn’t an artist. What I didn’t see was not doing anything meant that I wasn’t an artist either.
I am calling myself an artist, a mother and a maker again, sometimes you have to fail so that you try again. I have my little Etsy shop and though it is not a raging success (cough cough, take a boo – yes shameless self promotion) it is something. I have my kids who are growing and learning everyday, my home even if it is a big fat mess half the time, is lived in and that means I am not failing.
To round up this post is a list of Friday Fives for February.
- Cook 5 vegan meals from the cookbook Vegan Eats World(I’m not a vegan, just want to try something new).
- Make 100 Scrappy Carp (more on these guys later).
- Visit the Beach (yes I live next to the ocean but you would be amazed at how little I/we visit the beach).
- Add dates to my wishes so that they become goals and break those goals down into doable pieces…
- Find 5 pieces of work I have done in the last year and update my portfolio.
Failure is a big word and one we sometimes use in the absence of obvious success, how do you define either failure or success?
“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”
― Denis Waitley88
Thank you for that quote Maureen
Hello!
Just wanted to let you know that I’ve always founnd your blog very inspiring. So inspiring, in fact, that I’d like to nominate you for a Blogger Award! Your crafts and recipes are amazing. I love trying new meals and your blog always has a fun variety to try. Keep up the good work!
Please visit my blog and check it out the award
http://thegirlintranslation.com/2013/02/08/very-inspiring/#more-1468
Jess Damerst