We are defined by our limits. But what if you don’t have any limits?

Our strength is defined by our constraints. In fact, we require constraints in order to be strong … to be focused.

I’ve been thinking about something I said in a post a few days ago.

I am at that point in my life, when I need to choose the one thing I will do well for the rest of my life … the one thing I will devote myself entirely too … one skill that is the focus of my creativity.

Then I read the Immaculate Heart College Art Department Rules, which caused me to reflect on being a young artist studying at college and my own experiences with same. Naturally, this caused a chain reaction and a long train of thought concluding with the statements at the beginning of this post.

This is where I spare you the hour I have been sitting here babbling internally by removing my hands from the keyboard and sitting back in my chair. Let’s just cut to the meat of the matter and least incoherent, shall we?

I have been floundering around in the ocean of art for too long. No limits. No focus. No constraints (other than monetary). It is time for me to move into one of the tidal pools and set down some roots, while still allowing the tide to come in on a regular basis bringing with it ideas, inspiration, and life. I need some artistic boundaries. I need to focus down from the limitless possibilities to a narrow band of avenues. In order to become the artist I can be, I am going to have to pose constraints on my creativity.

To begin with, I need to choose a medium to work in. One. One medium. Not pastels on Monday, acrylics on Wednesday, and digital on Friday. One. One medium all the time.

And then, I need to focus my ideas and find a cohesive path among them. One related set of ideas. A concept. Oh my god, maybe even a real artist’s statement just to keep my own attention deficit mind on mission. Won’t that be fun?

I’m going to leave this post as is now. I could go on, I am certain, but I probably shouldn’t. Something tells me it’s a subject that could rapidly jump of the cliff into the pit of incoherent babbling.

I think I finally get what they mean by a “mature” artist. It isn’t what I expected it to be like. It’s like coming out of a mid-life crisis single-minded about something when you have never been single-minded about anything else before. Or rather, it’s like realizing it’s OK to be single-minded about something, and you don’t actually have to be good at everything, but not yet knowing what that one thing will be. It’s a bit disturbing.

See … incoherent babbling. I’ll shut up now.