Hello internets,
I have some follow up thoughts to yesterdays post about my MFA experience.
I found the MFA in Creative Inquiry program challenged me to build the schematics for my own temple of art and then to try to inhabit that space as deeply as I can. Having to balance a high artistic output with the demands of both school and life is a harrowing task. The program’s focus on seeing art making as a practice rather than a goal was very helpful in getting me to work more completely and complexly than I had before.
Building a practice made me very aware of having to take control over how and when my creative energy unfurls. This means even though I might get inspired to work while I am doing dishes, driving a car or being at work doesn’t mean I can create just then. Conversely, I could have all the time I want to set aside to be creative and still not have the desire to make anything.
Navigating this took setting patterns to find ways to control the creative beast that drives my work. When it wasn’t time to work I ended up scribbling down a quick note about what my inspiration is saying to me and then realizing I had the power to tell my muse to come back later during the time I have committed to communing with it. Then when I am sitting in my studio I have to make myself get passed my state of dissatisfied distraction and just get down to doing something related to my work even if is trivial or task oriented (aka less juicy than a full on creative blasting).
Once school is over real life floods back in with all its challenges Im away from the supportive network of school which was so validating as I had a group of people witnessing my process. It made being aware of what I was working on so much richer and realer. This boost of shared awareness made it much easier to descrive to others what I am doing and trying to do.
But being a M.other F.***ing A.rtist means that I have developed a deeper level of commitment and engagement with my art making practice so that now it is the thing that sustains me as I have to now put in the energy to figure out how to surf the real world and walk forward into the future of my creative process.
