Alyice on February 23rd, 2008

Practice Makes Perfect

To be quite truthful, I know that practice makes perfect because I’ve seen the improvement in my own writing as I’ve taken the time each day to hone my skills as a writer. And I know that the more I practice, the better I’ll get. So I get that in order to improve in both photography and art, I must do something to improve those skills every single day—read a tutorial, practice a method, watch a professional in action, something. But I must shamefully admit, before God and you, that I have not made the time to learn, to practice, to improve.

It hasn’t been easy to find the time between my home business and my duties as both a wife and mother to tackle this new venture. In fact, putting off my training has become such second nature to me for so many years that even though I vowed this would be the year I made an effort to at least try I am now two months into the year and I can honestly say that I’ve only put about 16 hours into learning and practicing.

But that’s all about to change thanks to an interview I did with artist and gallery owner Shelley Grund. In 2005 Shelley decided to paint one small painting a day—something she could tackle in under an hour and complete in one day—in order to improve her skills and create better art. Well, it paid off in more ways than she ever imagined.

Not only did she create better art, but she learned to create intuitively. In other words, she stopped worrying about how something was going to look, if she was using the right colors, or if she had the technique down correctly and just began to enjoy the process of painting. And before she knew it, she had a better understanding of how her paints worked together, which brushes worked better for a particular technique or area of the painting, and how far she could push her raw materials.

But what stood out the most during her interview was her closing statement, “You are no longer a student learning how to use the materials, you are a ‘master’ painter creating something with the materials.”

And isn’t that what all artists strive to be—a master of their craft? Whether it’s writing, photography, painting, sculpting, or even crocheting, the only way to be good at what we do is to get to a point where we aren’t always second-guessing why we’re doing what we are doing and begin to simply do it because it feels right. And that’s really where I’d like to be one day—at a place where I can confidently say, “this feels right” and have the outcome turn out just as good as it felt during the creative process.

I can’t promise a piece of art a day or even a photograph a day, but I can at least promise that I’ll spend 30 minutes to an hour every day devoted to learning and improving upon my craft—whether it be reading a how-to book, watching a video tutorial, or actually putting something into practice. After all, if I continue with the excuses of time being against me, I’ll forever live with the “what ifs” and dreams of “what could have been” and I am so not a “what if” girl!

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Tina L. Miller says:
Excellent advice, Alyice! And a piece of wisdom we can ALL apply to whatever it is we’re dreaming of achieving. The important thing is to do SOMETHING–anything even–toward the achievement of that goal every day. I know that some days are definitely harder than others for me. My energy level feels low and I sometimes have to FORCE myself. But I feel SO much better after I’ve accomplished even a tiny step toward my goal. It’s like I keep saying, “Slow and steady wins the race. Think ‘Tortoise,’ not hare.”
Posted at 9:46 pm March 4th, 2008

AlyiceEdrich.com
I'm a freelance writer, mixed media artist, SMVA, and the owner of The Dabbling Mum.

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