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@skiphillart

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Artist. Storyteller. Mixed-media Griot. Helping creatives find their way back to the studio and back to themselves. Art, Essays & Studio Life

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You know what I’m talking about. That thing, that idea that chose You as the best equipped someone to make it real, and insists on it despite your doubts and delays; the mind expanding book, the luminous series of paintings, the moving music score, the dramatic play, the action figure museum that draws visitors from around the world to a small town in Oklahoma. Crazy.

If you see it, apparently you’re the someone to bring the vision into the material plane. Kinda like a divine calling. You gotta step out of your comfort zone to get it done, so it’s probably gonna be scary.
But you move before you’re ready. You step into the studio with your hazy vision, a little momentum, and start indulging in some alchemy. After a while you’re feeling the process. That procrastination is 200 yards behind you now as you get into your flow to the finish.
-of what you were overthinking for the last six weeks.

And when you stand back and look at the thing manifested like for real in front of you... Doesn’t it feel good? Yeah, it does.

Jot this down if you’re taking notes, “Creativity is the opposite of numbness.
It’s what keeping you awake to your own life.”

In this raggedy ass modern world that is determined to keep us both overstimulated and numb, choosing to Do The Thing is choosing to be alive.
#youwin #explore #artist by @skiphillart

You know what I’m talking about. That thing, that idea that chose You as the best equipped someone to make it real, and insists on it despite your doubts and delays; the mind expanding book, the luminous series of paintings, the moving music score, the dramatic play, the action figure museum that draws visitors from around the world to a small town in Oklahoma. Crazy.

If you see it, apparently you’re the someone to bring the vision into the material plane. Kinda like a divine calling. You gotta step out of your comfort zone to get it done, so it’s probably gonna be scary.
But you move before you’re ready. You step into the studio with your hazy vision, a little momentum, and start indulging in some alchemy. After a while you’re feeling the process. That procrastination is 200 yards behind you now as you get into your flow to the finish.
-of what you were overthinking for the last six weeks.

And when you stand back and look at the thing manifested like for real in front of you... Doesn’t it feel good? Yeah, it does.

Jot this down if you’re taking notes, “Creativity is the opposite of numbness.
It’s what keeping you awake to your own life.”

In this raggedy ass modern world that is determined to keep us both overstimulated and numb, choosing to Do The Thing is choosing to be alive.
#youwin #explore #artist by @skiphillart

If you’re an Artist or a creative soul, you most likely were making things before you even knew how to make sense of things.

And when you looked around at your environment you drew new worlds and built little sanctuaries out of whatever was lying around, as a refuge from it all for while.
The discarded notebook was filled with poems, thoughts and words you dare not say out loud. The busted guitar got new strings and someone learned about the importance of practice and resilience. The fabric scraps are now exquisitely crafted art quilts that hang in private and public collections. The watercolors became a hobby you enjoy just for yourself, a hobby that keeps you sane with a quiet joy and a relaxing balance -in contrast to your stressful 9-5.

Truth is, Creativity has been doing the vital work of therapy, rebellion, resurrection and healing long before someone thought to give it a name. The creative child is the one who survived.

#explore #explorepage #instagram #artist #mindfulness by @skiphillart

“Art will never fail you” is less a promise of success than it is a promise of a faithful companion walking with you along the Way.

When the world feels uncertain, when the rent is due, when recognition is slow, or when doubt creeps in, the act of making, of shaping something from nothingness remains steady and available.

Art meets you where you are. It does not demand perfection, but it does require you to be present. To show up at the easel, to crank up the potter’s wheel. There in the quiet repetition of brushstrokes, the layering of materials, or the slow refinement of an idea, you begin to understand that the value of art is not about outside validation.

It is rooted in the way it helps you process, reflect, and remain connected to your own inner voice.” by @skiphillart

Here’s the OG Griot’s footnote: Sometimes, beloved, the most radical thing you can do as an artist in this raggedy-ass world is protect your attention. To be fully present and connected with your art and your Self.

That’s a big ask, I know.
We all wrestle with it.

Take care to protect your attention. It apparently has great worth, or they wouldn’t be demanding access to every bit of it, all the time, every waking moment of every freaking day! #artistmotivation by @skiphillart

You think you’re making a masterpiece, Meanwhile, your subconscious is in the corner spilling family secrets, blasting unresolved feelings, and sharing a few things your therapist hasn’t heard yet. 😂

See, that’s the beautiful trouble with creativity. You show up in the studio thinking you’re in charge of the process, and next thing you know the work starts putting all your business in the street

Look closer.
Sometimes the masterpiece isn’t what you made. Sometimes the masterpiece is what making the thing revealed.
You keep on keeping on, Superstar.
Your unconscious has stories yet to tell.
And we’re looking for the next chapter.

#artistmotivation #beautifulweirdos #creativity #theartprocess by @skiphillart

A.I. can produce some cool shit, I gotta give it up to the machines for the effort.
But I think one of the best prompts to feed into your art are the lived experiences of coping with your most profound wounds. You know, the human stuff.

A.I. can’t describe the pain of losing its mother. But a heartbroken poet feels the words. A.I. can’t convey the rage and loneliness it experienced during some rough teenage years. That’s the art of a singer/songwriter whose rocky experiences can.

The trauma of being enclosed, hemmed in and restricted as a child evolves into a practice of painting large expansive landscapes. Art turns the inner shadow of the painfully shy introvert into an alter ego that takes the stage and rocks the house.

A.I. is an awfully awesome tool, but it carries heavy costs to operate. (Google it.)
You on the other hand have already paid the price -with your tears, with your enduring, with your doubts, with your struggles and strengths, with your believing still.

That’s your toolbox.
That’s the shit that makes Art real. by @skiphillart

You can see how beautiful (how brave!) it is to create your art and put yourself out there when you realize that every piece of art you make is, in some sneaky way, a receipt for your state of being.

The finished work is gonna reveal whether you were in the flow state, or you were just trying to get somewhere. When you rush the work, your anxiety will leave its fingerprints in your brushstrokes. Linger with it, and watch how time slowly breathes through the surface.
When you make your work from love, curiosity, vulnerability, focus and honesty, the finished work isn’t just something you made, brave heart. We’re looking into who you are, and how you feel, see, and think about the world around us.

And we have questions. ❤️ by @skiphillart

I’m only asking because If your “why?” isn’t bringing people in, reconnecting them with their hearts, educating them in a direction of healing, bringing connection, creating magic, getting good shit, big shit done, whatever your “Why?” is,
-you need to ask yourself “Why not?”

I’m suggesting you ask yourself what your becoming is for.

Yeah, I know its cool and lovely to have cool and lovely things, and yes, we live in this world and money helps a lot - but do you passionately want to help others with the stack of resources you’re sitting on?

Ijs, if you’ve been given resources, a voice, a talent, a platform, a particular kind of vision—what are you going to do with the surplus?

Because your gift was never just about you, ya see. Art, at its deepest, is an exercise in connection. A bridge between one nervous system and another. One heart saying to another, I saw something. Did you see it too?

As you dream, find yourself.
As you build, find your cause.
Make your life—your work, your strange little genius—useful to somebody besides yourself. That’s the flex. That’s the success.
I’m guessing the universe will reward
your acts of service, Superstar. by @skiphillart

Let me tell ya from experience —getting ready usually is just “I’m scared to death!” with a nice big concept story and a plausible alibi. Of course you’re scared, your dreams are calling for something more from you. Your dreams and opportunities are calling you to explore and experience your capacity.

At some point you gotta step out there with what you’re carrying on you: maybe half a plan, maybe you’re riding on a dopamine spike from a great vision, you’re kinda letting loose your doubts. You’re going all in with shaky knees, a little stupid faith, and some “f*ck it!” audacity.

And I’m over here slow hand clapping for you.
You gotta go, Superstar. Even when the conditions aren’t exactly perfect.
Besides, waiting on perfect just takes too long.
#artistmotivation #SelfValidation #DoItScared by @skiphillart

Your art may not be great. It doesn’t have to be.
But I can tell you it doesn’t suck if it’s giving you Life.
It’s the things outside of your art that suck.

Things like breathing just to pay bills suck, servicing the needs of your family, your relationships, your emotions, your health, your debts suck. the constant stream of consciousness of the best and worst case scenario every single day suck. Costco lists and waiting in the school pick up line suck. Doing the right thing with love “I’ll be right there, honey!” sucks the juice dry from your creative energy.

As it should be, I gotta say.
Kids need feeding.
and all of the above are absolutely worthy of our time and attention most especially in this raggedy ass timeline we’re grinding through. It’s all transactions in love and survival my friends.

That’s why I preach the gospel of saving yourself a space in the everyday to create, to hydrate your creative self with some electrolytes.
Yes, this world is gonna suck.

But twenty minutes on your current project will be like a quick swim. It’ll pour back into your ocean.
#artistflow #artistmotivation by @skiphillart

You got a lot of artists out here creating for applause, when what they really want is intimacy. I mean, Art was never primarily about consumption —was it?

As I understand it, Art was, is, and always will be about the ability to activate human emotions and connections. I’m talking about that electric moment when something you brought into existence with your hands, your heart, leaves your body, goes out into the world and into somebody else’s life, and whispers to them, “I know. Me too. You’re not alone.”

Woof!

Keeping it a stack, the applause is nice.
Money is even better. But making an intimate connection with your art, the kind of connection that moves someone to sit with it inwardly for a while (or forever) is the Artist’s real currency exchange. #artist #motivation #whatisart by @skiphillart