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Jessica Libor

~ Studio Journal

Jessica Libor

Tag Archives: artist lifestyle

The process is the goal

29 Sunday Oct 2017

Posted by Jessica Libor in art, How To, In My Studio, Inspiration, Uncategorized

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Tags

arch street press, art, artist, artist lifestyle, career goals, entrepreneurship, goal setting, jessica libor, social entrepreneurship, social innovation

Screen Shot 2017-10-29 at 3.18.41 PM

In my studio, photo by Jessica Libor

Recently I heard a gem of knowledge that really struck me: “The process is the goal.”

This concept can apply to any aspect of your life.  In health, fitness, career, family, relationships, friendships, social life, spiritual life, or anything else you aspire to in your life.  Think about those people you know or know of who have one or more of these aspects on point in a spectacular way.  Perhaps they have the career you’ve always dreamed of–making amazing art, and getting recognition for it.  Perhaps they travel around the world and have a life of adventure that you’d love to experience.  Maybe their fitness levels seem to be unstoppable.

Whatever it is that you admire about this person, what “The process is the goal” reminds us of is that no one is perfect.  It is impossible to be in a state of perfection in anything, because as wonderful, flawed, quirky humans living in an imperfect world, perfection is not possible.  However, showing up everyday, working at it, and sharing your gift with the world, is very possible.

The athlete with the body in wonderful condition only got there by regular, hard work, grinding out each workout even when they didn’t feel like it.  Yes, sometimes a workout will feel exhilarating and fun, but other times it will be the last thing this athlete wants to do.  However, the act of going through the actions of the workout is what will change their body.  This doesn’t happen overnight, either: it’s a constant process of small choices that add up: choosing fruit instead of ice cream, choosing to get up and go to the gym at 7:30 instead of sleeping in until 8:30.  These small choices are indeed small–and one slipup really wouldn’t matter.  However, these everyday choices add up to create a very different body to live in than if that athlete had chosen a different path.  And even when the world sees the result, the athlete knows that it is not a state of perfection she is working for, it is health and performance on a spectrum, and any success she meets has to be maintained by continual training and effort.  As soon as a goal is reached, a plateau is also reached.  While it’s fine to catch your breath, the athlete knows that she must maintain her health in order to keep her current level, and push even harder than before should she wish to go further.  In this way, the process is the goal.

The same is true in an artist’s life.  We live in an instant-gratification world today.  Companies cater to our desires to have everything we want, and now.  It is a consumer mindset to think that we can buy success, health, skills, meaning, or love.  These things must be cultivated, understood and approached with a process-oriented mindset.  The goal can be switched from “having a sold out international art show” to “create one new piece per week in the studio that I am proud of”.  Can you see how one goal is externally focused on what one can get, and the other is more internally focused on what you can do and give?  This kind of process oriented thinking also puts the power back in your hands.  You are no longer seeking the approval of a gallery (outside source) but instead have the power to create a quality gift to the world.  Which, as anyone instinctively knows, is the key to success: adding value to the world.  If you create one piece of quality work per week, then, you will eventually be in a position to choose who to work with and what opportunities to take, because you are secure in your contribution.  You will have something you know is truly valuable.  There is no short cut here–to be a sought after artist with quality, enthusiastic buyers, you must become the kind of artist who puts in the work to create something of value–and people will notice.  It is not a pinnacle achievement, where one day you wake up and think “I have made it!”  Although great moments will come when you realize that your dreams are becoming a reality, that will be because of the process that you’ve followed to get there.

So I would challenge you to think of and list out the ideals you’d like to realize in your life.  Whether it is artistically related, or any other area of your life, think of where you’d like to be, and then the process that needs to happen in order for that to happen.  Then, instead of focusing on the goal so much (which can be disheartening, if it seems far away)  then focus on the process.  What would someone who is successful in that area of their life be, do, and act like?  Seek help, workshops, or other forms of training if need be, to help you realize the best process. Then, dedicate yourself to the process–not the goal.  You’ll find that the external goal will sneak up on you when you least expect it, when you’re deeply involved with the process–after it’s become a habit.

This assures as well that your goal doesn’t blind you from other opportunities.  Focusing on the process helps you to be more open to opportunities that may be even better for you than your original goal, that are along the same career path.  As Clive Gillison writes in the book Better to Speak of It, by Robert Rimm and Clive Gillison: “It’s a natural thing to be scared of uncertainty, yet liberating to know that it’s perfectly alright to feel that way.  When I was younger I wanted the same thing—certainty–and it took me a long time to realize that uncertainty can be a strength rather than weakness, because uncertainty also brings with it endless possibilities.”

It’s all about the process.  As Henry David Thoreau said,

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

Thanks so much for reading!  What kind of processes would you like to implement in your life and career?  Leave a comment below to share!   Until next time, stay creative,

Jessica Libor

www.jessicalibor.com

ps–If you’d like a step be step guide to help you discover your own voice as an artist, I’ve put together a completely free course for you!  Click here to learn more.

 

 

 

How Environment Shapes Creative Work

28 Friday Jul 2017

Posted by Jessica Libor in Inspiration, Journeys, lifestyle, Uncategorized

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Tags

arch street press, artist inspiration, artist lifestyle, charles perrault, edgar allen poe, excess of being, fairy tales, gaugin, hemmingway, lera auerbach, paris, sleeping beauty, social entrepreneurship, social innovation, Versailles

christianbirmingham1

Art by Christian Birmingham

Once upon a time, in a far away land, there was a castle. In that castle was a king and queen who had one daughter, Aurora…

What kind of story do you expect to hear when the story begins, “Once upon a time…?” It might include royalty, knights, dragons, a princess and some magic.

christianbirmingham

Art by Christian Birmingham

But what about the author of this story? What was his life like that inspired him to write such a tale?

christian birmingham 3

Art by Christian Birmingham

The original origin of this fairy tale was written by a man named Charles Perrault, and called “The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood.” Mr. Perrault lived from 1628 to 1703 and was an author and influential literary figure in Paris at the time. He was instrumental in the construction of the Louvre, designed a guidebook for the gardens of Versailles, and served as a secretary of state. In his upbringing , he attended the best schools, and was born into a wealthy family. One can only imagine that his surroundings: rubbing shoulders with kings, queens, princesses and the explosion of creativity that was alive in Paris at the time inspired him to write such a classic, enduring tale.

Charles.Perrault

Charles Perrault, author of the first version of Sleeping Beauty

I want to introduce the idea of place and environment, and what our environment has to do with what we create as artists, writers, and creators. The author of Sleeping Beauty was influenced by gardens perhaps because of his heavy involvement with designing the gardens of Versailles—if you recall, the palace in Sleeping Beauty is overgrown by a garden overrun—of the happenings of royalty because of his familiarity with queens and kings—and with a romantic tale because of the extreme romanticism prevalent in the art and literature of the time. He let his life’s experiences seep into his writings, and created a new genre in literature derived from oral folktales, the fairy tale.

Ernest Hemmingway is famous for his blunt, bold and strong writing style, something that was developed from his years working as a newspaper writer—and the topics he wrote about: wars, violence, desolation– from his time serving in World War 1. These were all parts of Hemmingway’s environment and life that became part of his stories and legacy.

ernest-hemingway-in-milan-1918

Ernest Hemmingway

Paul Gaugin was an artist originally from Paris but because of family ties in Peru, spent much of his childhood there. He returned to France for his young adult life, but grew disheartened by the “conventional and artificial” life there. He desired something more free, more natural, so he ended up moving to Tahiti towards the end of his career to create his vision of the life he wanted. Because of his bravery and experimentation with color, his work laid the foundation for the Primitive movement in art and a return to the pastoral. However, if Gaugin had not spent his formative years in exotic Peru, would he have had the same hunger, and made the same decisions?

Paul_Gauguin_071

Paul Gaugin

Edgar Allen Poe grew up as the child of two stage actors and struggled with tragedy in his early life, his father abandoning the family and mother dying the year after. He was taken in by a kindly family in Virginia, and had a brief career in the military before devoting his life to writing and literature. His wife died of tuberculosis shortly after he married her, and he seemingly never recovered. Truly, it was a life filled with tragedy, but Poe turned that tragedy into art, creating haunting pieces of literature that laid the foundation for the developing genres of mystery, horror and science fiction.

Original book published "The Raven" by Poe
Original book published “The Raven” by Poe
raven

But the elements that made him who he was—the artistic temperament of both of his parents, the tragedy and pain he felt, the Southern Gothic atmosphere of Richmond, Virginia…they all were part of his environment that helped create the person he became and the work he made.

There are many more countless examples, but pretty much any artist or creator that you can think of has been strongly influenced by their environment, whether they like to admit it or not. Our experiences help form who we are, as much as the choices that we make amidst those experiences. In graduate school, I began dissecting the kinds of paintings and imagery that I used again and again in my work. I returned again and again to imaged of people lying under trees—picnicking, sleeping, climbing the trees. I realized that some of my best memories from childhood were playing underneath the trees in our pear and apple orchard in the backyard, reading books, picnicking, making forts, playing, These experiences had embedded themselves in my mind so vividly that they kept coming to the surface in my art.  Do you have imagery, sounds or themes that keep coming up in your own creative work?  They may be worth examining to see where they may be coming from, even if you cannot pinppoint the origin of influence.  As Lera Auerbach states in her book Excess of Being, “Explainable doesn’t mean imaginary.”

5 The Reading, oil and gold leaf on board, 16"x20", Jessica Libor 2013

The Reading, by Jessica Libor, oil and gold leaf on panel

Some of us have memories and have experienced environments that we would rather not dwell on. To that I say, art is some of the most cathartic ways of dealing with bad past experiences, and who knows but your creation may help someone who has been through the same thing? It may be the catalyst someone needs to change.

Another thing to consider is, that if environment truly does shape who we are, then we have the power to choose our environment. What kind of art do you want to make? What kind of book do you want to write? What kind of music do you want to play?

Then, put yourself in an environment that supports that idea. Like the painter Paul Gaugin moved to the islands, you can move to somewhere more inspiring, even if it is temporary. I have a friend who lived in Philadelphia for a long time, and worked as a graphic designer. She made artwork here and there. This year, she bought a cabin in the mountains and moved there, still supporting herself part time with graphic design work, but has made an explosion of paintings that stem from the environment that she now lives in: the deep woods, the stars, the pathways and forest animals.

But what you digest in you mind also becomes part of your environment. So in addition to thinking about where inspires you, think of what. What kind of paintings leave you in awe? What kind of books? And music? Listen only to the best, learn from the best, surround yourself by what you truly admire, and your own skill will slowly but surely (yet sometimes quickly!) rise to the level you have set for it.

In my own life, I noticed that as I move into a new house and set up my studio, kitchen, bedroom, and living room, a new environment produces new ideas. A more organized studio begets a more organized mind. A beautiful place makes me want to create something that lives up to its surroundings.

May your art be true and a singing expression of your soul, wherever that place may be.

 

Article by Jessica Libor

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