FINDING YOUR VOICE
What’s your art about? What are you trying to say? Have you found your ‘artistic voice’ yet? Some big questions there so I’ll give you a minute to think about them… If you answered all of those questions with ease then hats off to you but, for some artists, me included, these questions might not be so easy to answer. But first and foremost let’s start with the main question, what the hell’s your ‘artistic voice’ anyway?
WHAT’S YOUR ARTISTIC VOICE?
I read a great book a while ago that really helped me clear up how to define what an artistic voice is. The clue was in the title. ‘Find Your Artistic Voice: The Essential Guide to Working Your Creative Magic.’ It doesn’t matter what medium you work in according to author Lisa Congdon, your artistic voice is ultimately:
“What makes your work yours, what sets your work apart, and what makes it different from everyone else’s—even from artists whose work is similar. Your artistic voice reflects your unique point of view, life experiences, identity, values, and what matters to you.”
That’s a pretty good definition, right? Your creative/artistic voice, not to be confused with your ‘style’, will be individual to each person and defined by all the things that make you well… you! OK, so now how do you go about finding it and what do you want to say?
HOW DO YOU FIND YOUR VOICE?
Short answer… Practice! And as much of it as you can do. Your voice is formed over time through continuous experimentation and intentional practice. By that I mean you have to put in the time. Whatever your chosen field is you have to practice. Draw, paint, take photographs, rip them up, write, tear things out of magazines and stick them somewhere else. As I say it doesn’t matter what the medium is or if you mix media and experiment with something you’ve never done before. Whatever it is that inspires you, do that!
Search for new ways of working and try to always be looking for new sources of inspiration. There’s so much out there. I think your voice evolves as you do and I don’t think I’ve fully found mine yet but as I do more and more experimenting and searching I’m finding what resonates and inspires me the most.
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SAY?
Maybe you don’t have to ‘say’ anything at all but, for me, art and creating is about expressing thoughts, ideas and feelings. So what do you want to say? What do you want to express? The answer is… anything you fucking like! You’re the artist and it’s up to you! Don’t ever censor yourself! Create whatever the hell you want to create and say whatever you want to say. As long as it means something to you, I’m sure you’ll find someone else out there, in a world filled with billions of people, that can connect with it as well.
That’s one of the things that’s been so great for me with Creative Nowhere Land, it’s given me a space where I feel that I can create on my terms, express whatever I like, anyway I like and when I like.
The thing I do have to get better at is sharing the stuff I’m producing. There’s a weird thing in me that feels I’ve got to explain everything I’m creating and why I’m creating them which leads me to get in my own head and spend far too long trying to write some long-winded blog post about it all. Moving forward, I’ve got to take some of my own advice and just keep creating and trying to share the work I’m making without so much explanation. Maybe sometimes it’s up to you, the viewer, to come up with the rationale behind it all.
Anyway, I’ll stop this ‘long-winded blog post’ and leave you to trying to find your own voice and I’ll get back to trying to find mine too. Thanks again for stopping by to Creative Nowhere Land and as always, if you’re not already, sign up for the newsletter so you can keep up to date with what’s going on. Hope you find your voice and make sure you keep creating!