Artist mind management (or mindset) is what happens when an artist develops the ability to direct how they think about all the obstacles and challenges that can come up during the process of creating. And, more importantly, what they do next. These obstacles and challenges could be fear, doubt, procrastination, or an inability to choose what to do next, as well as, becoming creatively blocked and feeling frustrated. What makes all of these so detrimental is how artists let these negative thoughts influence their choices and their ability to create productively and, more importantly, what they make these thoughts mean about themselves, their character, and their potential as artists.
This book is dedicated to helping artists with their mindset. The information contained within these pages is the culmination of my firsthand experience and observations about the artist's journey and how they can overcome the challenges that cause them to get stuck. My desire is to liberate artists from the self-imposed limitations of fear, procrastination and lack of confidence, and, in turn, empower them to create with courage, commitment and momentum.
Although this book is written for visual artists such as painters, sculptors and photographers, the ideas contained within apply equally to any creative person including, but not limited to, actors, writers, musicians, dancers, and even entrepreneurs. When I use the term"painting" in this book, a creator should feel free to substitute words from their own creative calling. All of the artists I have either coached, mentored or taught, were attempting to improve their creative pursuits. The ideas presented here have helped them all. It doesn't matter whether they are active professionals, self-identified artists, or just creatively-inspired. This book is for anyone who is on the difficult (but fulfilling) journey of creative expression.
This book is based on the on the premise that an artists creativity matters and that they have creative work to do. My goal is to help artists get out of their own way so they can get down to to creating the work they were meant to create. I am not so much interested in what they create as I am in that they create.
This book will help set creators on a path to more meaningful and courageous creativity, profound artistic growth, and increased productivity. It will also encourage, motivate, challenge, and empower them to take creative action. And Create Anyway.