Before the beginning of great brilliance, there must be chaos. Before a brilliant person begins something great, they must look foolish to the crowd.
...I Ching

Do you ever experience a feeling of fear when creating something? For me it goes something like this.

Inner Critic (IC): "They" are going to say that looks pathetic. Like you were trying to create something that looked like Jackson Pollock and it only looks like a Vacation Bible School craft project.

Me: No, I'm not.

IC: Yeah you are. You were actually thinking about Jackson Pollock when you started this. Just because you put a few geometric shapes doesn't mean anything. In fact, you stole those from Wassily Kandinsky.

Me: They inspire me but I'm not copying them.

IC: Of course you are. You don't have any creative talent. All you can do is copy great art. And you can't even copy it very well.

Me: (Painting over what I've done with angry strokes) I was just preparing the background. I'm going to make a collage.

IC: Great! Now your background will be all lumpy from the gobs of paint you've used and the papers will wrinkle. It will look very amateurish. "They" are going to whisper behind your back and laugh at you.

Me: I'm going to go watch a movie.

So, who is this Inner Critic? Where does she get her ideas from? What beliefs do I hold that allow her to have so much power in my creative process?

And, why is it that some days she vanishes? She doesn't even show up in the studio? What have I got going on those days that allows me the freedom to create from within?

Courage. I believe that is the magic key. The courage to make a fool of myself trying. The courage to try whatever comes to my mind. The courage to do it because I love it even if I look foolish to someone.

Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared.
Eddie Rickenbacker

What if you went ahead and created something even with the critic yelling in your ear? What if you just put some paint on a canvas even with trembling hands? What if you did that and you felt good just for having done it, no matter what it looked like?

More than anything, with this newsletter, my blog, and the products I sell, I want to encourage you to just make art, NO MATTER WHAT! The only way to get past the fear, the critic's loud voice and the timidity of not doing it "good enough" is to do it anyway.

Getting over the fear can be fun. If you want to step out there and grab something new for your life try one of these sites. I'm going to do the voice lessons!

If none of these appeal to you, just do a Google search for "free lessons" and see what all is available. You might see something that catches your eye, that you weren't even aware of!

I'd love to hear from you if you decide to try something new. Write me at zura at creativeclown dot com and tell me how your fear busting work is going!

Free drawing lessons
http://www.artgraphica.net/

Free Spanish lessons
http://www.learnspanishtoday.com/

Free voice lessons
http://www.voicelesson.com/html/lessons/free_lessons.htm

Free quilting lessons
http://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.net/QuiltingLessons.htm