Sprinkle something new into the mix

When my art making feels like a formula it begins to feel contrived. A project can feel like a wobbly jelly I am trying to squeeze into a container. Then suddenly it fits and I know the flavour, shape and colour of it; I have made decisions and edited out the parts that don’t work and polished the parts that do. There is an immense feeling of satisfaction that I have tamed the unknown and captured the best materials, palette and marks to say what I didn’t know I was trying to say! I have fought with the unknown and won.

But uh oh! What have I done? I quite liked the floppy flummery of that jelly. The box has straight edges and a lid, and I can see the jelly when I look through but it is processed and sealed and a bit too predictable. So I tip it out and start again.

This time I use the same ingredients but in different amounts. I might play with scale or composition. I might simplify or change the palette. It is an iterative process, changing the component parts one at a time to see what a new version looks like.

I add sprinkles to the mix. As the project unfolds in the studio, I hit pause and go out into the world. I give myself permission to go seek, to wander, slow, to look. I might stare at the sky or photograph all things red.

I fill pages of my sketchbook with asides to the main idea. I draw in a way that feels awkward, perhaps with my non dominant hand and invite in mistakes that might actually be realisations. Facing the potential for failure straight on gives me confidence to challenge other aspects, and flout any pre-conceived ideas I had of process and outcome.

In this way I make different jellies in different moulds. I don’t want them all the same. I do want the wibbles and the wobbles. I want the different flavours. And the minute I think I have made THE BEST JELLY EVER is probably the time to shake it up and start again.

I start again but take a few elements with me. This time my sketchbook pages will explore line. Or this time the texture is most important to me. In the next I play with zooming in to a successful area and reworking it large.

When I keep sprinkling in the new alongside playful art making, I develop my style, relinquish control, release feeling boxed in and make decisions about what is important to me. I learn to trust my intuition and keep in flow.

If you would like guidance to trust your intuition and create with play and purpose, find out more about my online art courses at www.helenhallows.com