Finding Your Path

I recently realized the process in determining my services and language in my creative coaching business is similar to the process I went through in discovering my visual arts expression. Having past experience in a different arena can prove useful in new and unexpected ways. It goes to show all the lessons you learn in life build the foundation for future work.

When I left my corporate finance job and started getting involved in the arts, I didn’t have much clarity on the direction I was headed. It was just a hunch that art was something I wanted to be doing. I had always been interested in art as a spectator, but I had rarely created much visual art of my own.

Because I wasn’t sure which direction I wanted to go, I tried my hand at a lot of different things: papier mache, jewelry making, painting, graphic design, and drawing before finding my place in cartooning.

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

In the process of figuring out what I wanted to be doing, I found it was helpful to follow the advice I had received when I was dabbling as an engineering major. Look for what’s out there before reinventing the wheel.

I wanted to find work that inspired me, so I went on a search. As I’ve always done, I spent a fair amount of time at the library. I searched through many arts books looking for things that attracted my eye. I also did a lot of searching on the internet and on Pinterest. I began volunteering at the local museum and spending time with other artists.

As I conducted my search I went through a lot of styles. The realism of Rembrandt, the abstraction of Picasso, the impressionistic wold of Monet and Degas, etc. As I explored I found myself gravitating towards German Expressionist artists like Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc and August Macke. Artists I had never heard of before.

As I continued on my search, I discovered Al Hirschfeld and I returned to the world of children’s illustrators such as Eric Carle, who happened to have an exhibit at the museum where I was volunteering.

It Comes Down to Taste

Steve Jobs said “it comes down to taste. It comes down to trying to expose yourself to the best things that humans have done, and then try to bring those things into what you’re doing.”

As I explored the work of great artists whose work I appreciated I began to discover that I really liked the freedom to take a different look at familiar objects. I began drawing anthropomorphic images of dogs and cats and other animal friends. I began to get a sense of something I truly enjoyed, and I was beginning to get good at it.

As I found my way into that style, I began to go deeper and began developing more of my own personal style. My focus began to be on how to do what I was already doing better.

Finding Home

I wouldn’t have arrived at my current destination had I not done the exploratory work that brought me here. If I had simply accepted what I was told to do, I wouldn’t have found the joy that I find in creating. It was quite a process, but one I look back on with satisfaction.

It’s akin to the Ugly Duckling story. If the ugly duckling had stuck with what it knew instead of exploring outside its environment, it would have stayed an unsatisfied and not well accepted ugly duckling. By looking outside it’s environment, the ugly duckling discovered it was indeed a beautiful swan.

In conclusion, I urge you to explore. Look beyond your current surroundings. Discover what’s around the next corner. If you don’t already feel like a swan, find the setting where you do.