Anya Gallaccio, that open space within, 2008

Anya Gallaccio, that open space within, 2008, dead horse-chestnut tree, rope, and findings. (Photographs from Camden Arts Centre Flickr)

Anya Gallaccio often works with and transforms organic materials, and in her new exhibition at London’s Camden Arts Centre, titled “that open space within,” the artist presents the reconstructed fragments of a large chestnut tree.

"The tree had been dead a long time and was going to become unstable and dangerous. This was both good and bad for me. It reduced the weight of the wood, but it also meant that it was incredibly brittle—there was no flexibility in it. I enjoy that improvisation, the on-the-spot, pragmatic decision-making.

Some of the resulting pieces are fragile; others are hideously heavy and overbearing; the first section weighs one and a half tons. I’m amazed at the strength and engineering of trees, with their huge branches that spread out horizontally and resist the forces of the weather. Obviously, I destroyed the structural integrity of the branches by choosing to cut them, and in putting them back together chose to emphasize the mending or fixing. The bolts extend way beyond the surface of the wood—like pins in a fractured limb—and the ropes hold it in traction within the space. There’s no illusion there, and I’m not trying to disguise the artifice of the reconstruction.

I’m interested in basic, rather banal stuff, like how big trees are and how we relate to them physically. I’m a real townie; I’m a little bit terrified and overwhelmed by nature. My curiosity is more morbid than celebratory.”

Except from Artforum.

The Beautiful, the Sublime, and the Picturesque

Beauty: the experience of “beauty” involves the interpretation of some entity as being in balance and harmony with nature. This leads to the feeling of attraction and emotional well-being.

Sublime: is the quality of greatness, whether physical, moral, intellectual, metaphysical, aesthetic, spiritual or artistic. “Sublime” especially refers to a greatness beyond all possibility of calculation, measurement or imitation.

Picturesque: is the expressive term that is peculiar to a kind of beauty, which is agreeable in a picture. Meaning it is the ideal entity, worthy of being made into a picture.

"The mountains are ecstatic.. None but.. God know how to join so much beauty with so much horror.”
- Thomas Gray

“No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as Fear. For fear being an apprehension of pain or death, it operates in a manner that resembles actual pain. Whatever therefore is terrible, with regard to sight is sublime too, whether this cause for terror be endued with greatness of dimension or not; for it is impossible to look on anything as trifling or contemptible that may be dangerous.”

—	Edmund Burke 'A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origins of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful', 1757

Inspiration Collection - ways I could use paper / sculpture / installation / nature

Valeria Nascimento, Hanging Cups (detail), installation
Ceramic artist








Laura Tabakman, Floating Garden, installation.
Stiffened rusted silk and steel wire. Installation of variable size.The installation moves when you walk by or blow at it.


Tara Donovan, Untitled, paper plates

Leslie Pearson, Incubation, installation 


Exoskeleton, abaca handmade paper, 2006 (UNABLE TO FIND ARTIST)


Kim Stanford, Milkpod; 2008; each approx 36”x7”x7”; mixed media
(pantyhose, glue, pine needles)


Ian Crawley, God’s Prototype: The Nature of Man: Lungs (2002) - Sticks, stones, graphite and gesso on wood

 
Leslie Avon Miller,   egg shells


Kari Herer, Magnolia Bugs no. 6672



 
Mary Burton Durell, paper sculptor
http://inthemake.com/mary-button-durell/

Emptied Gestures

Utilizing her body movements, Heather Hansen creates breathtaking, large scale charcoal paintings. In 2012 she began experimenting with kinetic drawing and has been searching for ways to combine her passion for visual art and dance. The idea for the series ‘Emptied Gestures’ was sparked on a trip to the beach. Whilst dancing on the beach she noticed that the lines carved in the sand by her turns had an interesting quality. She explains her work as follows: ‘Emptied Gestures is an experiment in kinetic drawing. In this series, I am searching for ways to download my movement directly onto paper, emptying gestures from one form to another and creating something new in the process.’[]

 

Video of her creating such drawings:

 

Emptied Gestures is an experiment in kinetic drawing. In this series I am exploring ways to download my movement directly onto paper, emptying gestures from one form to another

Questions answered (First attempt)

What are my strengths?

Drawing abilities (detailed,meticulous)

Mark making

Research (adapting research into own knowledge/work)

Problem solving

Patience

Work ethic

What are my weaknesses?

Painting abilities (technical aspects of painting, representational as example)

Self doubt (lack of confidence at times in my abilities and work) and letting this stop me from working

Limited abilities with hand tools (solvable)

Making processes more difficult than it needs to be (not realising the easiest way to do something)

Do these weaknesses and strengths balance each other out?

To a degree, for example, self doubt can affect work ethic, and problem solving

What is the best idea I've ever  had?

First year, wooden pallet work - still go back to this after a year and a half

What made it great in my mind?

A successful piece, risk taking payed off, confident in creating work, work is 'alive'

What is the dumbest idea?

Unsure, just because an idea didn't work, doesn't mean it was dumb. All ideas have some potential

Can you connect the dots to what led you to this idea? (best idea)

Howard Hodgekin painting methods, abstract

Lucio Fontana, slashing into canvases

Loose expressive painting, holes in the canvas

Found a wooden pallet outside, possibility to use it as a found frame

Seem purely as experimental

What is my creative ambition?

To continually develop my skills, grow confidence in myself and my art, create the best work I can

What are the obstacles to your ambition?

Self doubt, fear stalling and paralysing me, human nature (laziness, procrastination)

What are the vital steps to achieve this ambition?

Be confident in myself and abilities, not let my doubt stop me, force myself to work, take risks = confidence to take larger risks

Describe your first successful creative act.

As a small child, life drawing class, drawing a black Greek style statue from life with good accuracy for age

Describe your second successful creative act.

Designing a logo for a Police Bogus calling campaign during a level art at sixth form

Compare them.

Second is a more skilled and advanced progress from the first act.

Which artists do I admire most?

J. M. W. Turner, Giuseppe Penone, Andy Goldsworthy, Claude Monet,

Why are they your role models?

J. M. W. Turner - Prolific art maker, the sheer amount of work he produced, expressive, romantic, also representational but with energy
Giuseppe Penone - His relationship with nature, the connection between man and nature, particularly the tree. His work can often offer a moment of reflection between ourselves and the natural world, doesn't set out to solve the problems of the environment etc. He reveals the enormous power of the life around us, the magnificence of biology.

Andy Goldsworthy - His use of natural materials in the area he's in to create work that doesn't generally impact the landscape negatively. Failure doesn't phase his work, he continues despite multiple failures until success.

Claude Monet -  His obsession with understanding how light, colour works in nature. Understanding the blessing and curse of never being able to 'switch off' creatively.

What do you and these artists have in common?

The ideas of nature that I feel and hold are shared in one way or another with all of these artists. Learning about them has made me realise and make sense of my own connection with nature, and partly what I want to say about nature.

Who/what is your muse?

Nature

Define muse.

Something that continues to inspire me throughout the years of creating.

When faced with impending success, or the threat of failure, how do you respond?

Success - continue to work, harder on realisation of success

Failure - doubt self/worry, then consider what has gone wrong and why, go back to previous work or research to try and solve problems occurring

When confronted with superior intelligence or talent, how do you respond?

The possibility that I could reach that level, learn as much from them as I can, also have some jealousy

At what moments do you feel your reach exceeds your grasp?

A lot of the time, stems from my lack of confidence, usually continue despite this feeling

When you work, do you love the process or the result?

Both. The process of working, researching, problem solving etc is enjoyable, and it's rewarding when all of that hard work comes together into a successful piece of artwork.

What is your ideal creative activity?

When inspiration and ideas work well together, or learning a new process or method of working

What is your greatest fear?

Failing, letting myself down, not being able to solve problems myself, not achieving best I can

What is the likelihood of either of the two previous answers happening?

There is always the chance of either happening, but you continue to work in the hopes of the ideal situation happening.

What is your idea of mastery?

Being able to execute something with a lot of skill without thought/thinking about it. Subconscious.

What is your greatest dream?

To have a large studio to create the work I want, access to the materials I need, supporting myself as an artist, having a community of artists working together to create art

Which of your answers would you most like to change?

My lack of confidence - having confidence in myself and my work could make everything a lot easier, more time on art, less on worrying or doubting ideas

10 Things I Remember...About Procrastinating, by Gregory Manchess

Gregory Manchess
http://muddycolors.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/10-things-i-rememberabout.html

Ever hear of the three P’s? Perfection. Procrastination. Paralysis.
I used to start a piece needing it to be the best thing ever: perfection. It had to solve every problem of my portfolio development, it had to stimulate, it had to thrill, it had to make clients call me, it had to make women weep.

It was too much to accomplish. So, I hesitated: procrastination. The more I hesitated, the bigger the problem became, until it was so great I couldn’t start since it would surely fail on any level: paralysis. Idea abandoned.

It was simply fear.

Below are a few things I’ve used over the years to forge ahead. Once in a while, after having put in tons of effort on other paintings, a new one pops out almost having painted itself, as the saying goes. These points will work for you. I promise, but you have to apply them. Don’t wait for inspiration. It’s fickle and unreliable.

And no, there aren’t exactly ten points here. Sometimes, we just don’t need that much to begin.

1. Force a deadline.
I give myself a deadline. Could be a week, a day, an hour. For example: ‘I must put something on the page by 3 pm or I will get “those feelings” back.’ Feelings of inadequacy. A pit in my gut that suggests that time is passing and I’ve nothing to show for it. Life is full of distractions. That’s why I clear a path, make room, and show up on time for my own deadline. I begin whether I want to or not.

2. Seek stimulation.
Lots of times I look at others’ work. Studying the paint, the color, the shapes, the ideas of other painters stimulates something deep inside. I want to feel the same strokes, I want to understand the same feelings for myself. I can barely contain wanting to experience that quest.

3. Make it urgent.
I’ve always been in a hurry. I’m not sure why, other than I have a very heartfelt impression of life being very short. Always have. I hate wasting time on worry or hesitation. (even though I trip over both) I know that every effort I make now is rewarded down the line by saving me future effort.

4. Use fear.
There’s nothing to be afraid of. In fact, I should be afraid. If I feel fearful, I know I’m on to something. I am about to discover what makes me tick. I want it to be authentic and real, and I fear that I might be an imposter. Everyone does. So forget that junk. We’re all afraid of discovery. At first.

5. Fail first.
Sometimes, I have to fail first. I don’t want to fail because it’s irritating and painful, and absolutely no fun. But I know that failure leads to interesting combinations, better solutions, success. We’ve spent thousands of years evolving, learning, testing. There is no other way. Yes, sometimes things come quickly, but only after tons of effort. Make that effort. Rinse and repeat.

6. Share the struggle.
I listen to and watch other painters talk about their struggles, their form, their techniques, research, and discoveries. The patterns are similar and the principles are always the same. I glean enthusiasm and inspiration from watching other artists penetrate the same travails that I encounter. And I steal their magic powers to push on through.

7. Just begin.
There is ONLY this. Prepared or not, begin. When I write, I don’t get writer’s block. I know from painting what is needed. I must start drawing, immediately. The writer must start putting words on paper. Doesn’t matter how bad, a writer will break that hesitation by throwing words on paper. Same for me. I put thumbnails down. The sooner the better. It breaks every spell. I can start to understand the problem, build the mood, the expression. Nothing is solved or expressed until I throw down a perimeter and draw within it. Nothing.

Questions to ask myself and consider

1. What are my strengths?
2. What are my weaknesses?
3. Do these strengths or weaknesses balance each other out?
4. Is that why I'm drawn to ... ?
5. How does that relate to what I'm trying to do?
6. So what should I make next?
7. What am I trying to say?
8. Describe your artistic practice in three words.

1. What is the first creative moment you remember?
2. What is the best idea you've ever had?
3. What made it great in your mind?
4. What is the dumbest idea?
5. What made it so dumb?
6. Can you connect the dots to what led you to this idea?
7. What is your creative ambition?
8. What are the obstacles to this ambition?
9. What are the vital steps to achieving this ambition?
10. Describe your first successful creative act
11. Describe your second successful creative act.
12. Compare them.
13. Which artists do you admire most?
14. What are they your role models?
15. What do you and your role models have in common?
16. When you work, do you love the process or the result?
17. Who/what is your muse?
18. Define muse.
19. When faced with impending success or the threat of failure, how do you respond?
20. At what moment do you feel your reach exceeds your grasp?
21. *What is your ideal creative activity?
22. *What is your greatest fear?
23. What is the likelihood of either of the answers to the previous two questions* happening?
24. What is your idea of mastery?
25. What is your greatest dream?
26. Which of your answers would you most like to change?
27. When confronted with superior intelligence or talent, how do you respond?

Speculative:

adjective

1.

engaged in, expressing, or based on conjecture rather than knowledge.

2. theoretical, rather than practical.

speculative - not based on fact or investigation

notional

theoretic, theoretical - concerned primarily with theories or hypotheses rather than practical considerations; "theoretical science"

hypothetical, academic, theoretical, abstract, tentative, notional, conjectural, suppositional

risky, uncertain, hazardous, unpredictable

Materiality:

noun

1.

the quality of being composed of matter.

2.the state or quality of being physical or material.

		materiality - the quality of being physical; consisting of matter corporality, corporeality, physicalness  Corporeality: 1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of the body. 2. Of a material nature; tangible.

John Newling Tutorial - 13/02/14

-Make the drawings more speculative (size, like maps)

-Create sculptures from the plant drawings - use dried/pressed plants, find materials I'm comfortable with using, found materials, inexpensive

-Visit a Mushroom farm

-Grow plants in the studio/at home from seed

-Eva Hesse, organic material works

-Using simple materials to create forms to draw from

-Create an extremely large and detailed drawing over a period of time, work on it e.g. one hour a day, do other works alongside it

-Cut a small square of bark, draw large scale from it

-Bark as a 'skin', a structure to place it onto

-Push drawings to unfamiliar ground, beyond the white flat sheet of paper

-Drawings made to do something different - what could a drawing do?

-Consider the materiality of the drawings

-Create a system of how I hybridize the forms





(Showed John Newling works from last year (pallet pieces))

-Go back to this work, it is alive

-Get a pallet, get clay and work

-It will be different because of the work and research I've done this year

-Paper maché, consider how I could use other mateirals

Test Exhibition Curation - Write up

In this write up, I have been completely honest about how I felt the process was going at each stage. I have also mentioned names in this write up, I felt that leaving names out detracted from my write up and the feelings about the process, so this is a warning for anyone reading that names are mentioned!




Initial meeting:

I'm part of the curatorial team for both the test exhibition happening soon, and I assume the end of year exhibition we have to organise ourselves. I really wanted to be a part of the team as it's something I'm interested in gaining more knowledge of, not just as a possibility for the future, but it may aid my placement information and research.

Sadly, during the initial meeting we approached it the wrong way, as at the beginning of the meeting we were asked who wanted to do it, so half of the group volunteered to be on the curatorial team. I feel that's way too many people to curate an exhibition properly, but others have said it'd be unfair to say that people can't be on the team. I partly agree with this, but I have a feeling communication may be a big issue now because there are so many people. Too many cooks spoil the broth, as the saying goes. I think that 5-6 people would be plenty, half of the whole group seems rather excessive to me. However I feel people may drop out if they feel it isn't for them. We also agreed to everyone handing in a proposal form by the end of thursday, ready for the curatorial team to review on friday. Hopefully everyone will hand one in, but as there are people missing from this initial meeting, I don't expect we will have them all.

After Curators meeting:

The curation went surprisingly well, and we had everyone in the gallery with a space much quicker than I first expected. Sadly only five of us were there for the beginning of the meeting (Jess, Laura, Kim, Zoe and myself), with our note taker Vicky turning up half an hour late; I wasn't too impressed as she still found time to go and get a coffee from Costa. We had a few proposal forms missing, (Kay, Vicky Stokes, Shannon) although Jess had a vague idea of what Kay wanted, and Vicky was at the meeting so she could tell us verbally. Still, It's not a good sign when even people on the curatorial team can't meet the deadline or even hand in a form! This meant we had to place these people wherever we could as we prioritized the people who had handed one in. Even with the forms, I felt people were too general and hadn't given us a good idea of what there work actually will look like, but in the end we managed to get everyone into a space. The spaces that were left, we allocated to the people with proposal forms absent.

I still feel that the team is too large, which both Zoe and myself brought up at the beginning of the meeting, but apparently it's unfair and too harsh to tell people they can't be on the team. While I agree with this, if people aren't pulling their weight or benefiting the curation of the exhibition, I don't think there is any point in them being a part of the team. It was quite difficult working out where to place people, so we sorted all of the forms into piles of wall based work, installation etc. and began with people who needed certain spaces. Vicky Jones was one example, as she wants to stack chairs for her work there was no other space she could use other than her first choice, as it would pose health and safety risks. I was slightly annoyed that when Vicky turned up late, we had already assigned half of the gallery spaces, and she proceeded to try and change everything we had done while she wasn't there. We firmly but politely told her that we'd already made those decisions and that we'd moved on from them, which she accepted so we could continue allocating the spaces. Overall the placement of the installation works was the most difficult, as there were several of them and not much space in the gallery areas. Luckily with some negotiations between Kim and myself we managed to fit our work, and Precious' into the largest space in the gallery.

Discussing the proposed floor plan for the test exhibition:

Everyone was happy about the places given, apart from Kim. Despite being at the curatorial meeting and being happy with everything then, she has decided she is unhappy now as Precious' name is too close to hers on the sheet.Before the meeting I explained to her several times that it's just the font being too large, and doesn't depict how and where the work will be, but she didn't listen and also brought it up in the meeting. What I had explained to her was also said again by several other people, but she was convinced that Precious' work would block hers. We told her to wait until the work is installed and see then, as we know it's not an issue once it's all in place. Still unhappy and unconvinced, she did let the matter drop, however. What was slightly worrying was the fact that the same people who failed to hand in forms weren't at this meeting again, such as Shannon. We are posting everything both onto the noticeboard and the facebook group, so there really isn't an excuse for not knowing what's going on as everyone should be in anyway.

Installation of the work:

The install process was slow, andI was surprised that most of the gallery was empty still on friday morning, however I realised that people had been working on and creating the work for most of the week, including myself (although I had to work on mine directly in the space). Most of the installation happened in the morning, we helped each other when needed and for the most part it went smoothly. However by friday afternoon I was concerned that a few people's spaces were still empty. These were the same people who failed to provide proposal forms or turned up late to meetings, if at all (Angela, Kay, Shannon). Zoe left a reminder on the facebook group earlier in the day, and when they still didn't appear I left a more stern comment on the group, reminding people that they not only let themselves down if they fail to install, but also impact the people sharing their gallery space. I decided to leave the more stern comment as the team has been very nice about lack of forms or attendance so far, and that we need to start gearing up better. Luckily towards the end of the day everyone was in either installing their work, or going home with their work in the gallery.

Once I started to look around the gallery spaces, I noticed that in some areas the work didn't fit together at all. This is a curatorial issue that needs to be resolved in the real exhibition, and luckily it isn't so much of an issue for this text exhibition, however I'm still annoyed that this has happened. I feel part of it was because the curatorial team wasn't provided with enough details and information about some people's work, so we had to place them somewhere and guess quite a lot on what the work will actually look like. For example, in Nick's proposal he said that his chairs would be a floor-based installation. I understand that ideas change but he then chose a small, tall plinth to place them onto, which could have obstructed other work on the wall. It also meant that the large floorspace in the middle gallery is now wasted, which could have been better used now by one of the installation pieces. If he had told us about the changes, it couldn't been curated better however we were unaware of this. Luckily, Sarah and Shannon let me know about their plans about swapping spaces, and Sarah had already negotiated this with Percy so it was fine to go ahead. Even so, Shannon's photography work didn't do anything in the space with Nick's installation, or Phil's work opposite, or really work with Laura's paintings to a degree (they are both portrait based work though so it also does to a degree). If we had been given more details on how all of the work would actually look, I feel we could have made better decisions about placement of work in the curatorial meeting. In addition, some people simply didn't deliver the work they stated, such as Vicky Stokes. She stated she would have three plinths, mimicking a museum display style with collections under plastic display boxes. She only ended up with one, it wasn't even varnished so she did that in the space and got varnish all over the gallery floor, in addition to the fumes it gave off which interrupted some people and prevented them from installing their work. There is also no collection on the plinth, just one toy fox. I feel that the wall behind her work is now being wasted, as if we had known she was only using one plinth we could have negotiated with Nick to make better use of the floorspace, and have a wall based piece on that wall.

Discussing this with Zoe from level 6, who also is interested in curation, she made it clear to me that we need to start being more ruthless and 'harsh' with how we curate and get everyone to be involved. She also agreed with me on the curation team being too big, and suggested that if people don't start pulling their weight on the team, that we can say they can't be on it any longer - it's our exhibition at stake and we're graded on it. I completely agree with this, as I felt I couldn't do anything or chase anyone up in fear of being dubbed harsh or being unfair. I'm unhappy that the gallery space isn't working, and I do want to step up and start curating the exhibition properly next time. I hope that my confidence doesn't get in the way, as I want to try and be more harsh when it comes to things like missing forms, or people not pulling their weight. It may even boost my confidence, and I don't want to have to walk on eggshells trying to please everyone when an exhibition is being curated - compromises will be needed by everyone, and I felt some people were unwilling to do this for the test exhibition, or felt they were compromising when they actually weren't. I want to make sure it is also done fairly, too, as I feel that some people were more vocal or stubborn in their issues, and therefore made other people make unnecessary sacrifices in their work just to accommodate their qualms.



To summarize, I feel that the process has gone a whole lot better than I first expected, with only one or two people having issues. I really enjoyed the process of curating the work, although sadly this was handicapped by the fact that people didn't provide us with the information we needed. I felt that we were also too nice and gentle about everything, and that people didn't even realise they had let us down or caused us to have to work harder than it should've been necessary. Next time, especially since it'll be for the real exhibition, I think the team needs to be cut down to make it work better, as there is too many people not contributing to the team and is affecting the teams ability to work properly. We also need to be more harsh when it comes to information we need, deadlines for forms or installations, and need to start chasing up people if they fail to pull their weight fairly and contribute to the whole group effort, and make sure all negotiations are fair for everyone involved.

John Newling Artist Talk - 13/02/2013

'Ecologies of Value'
26 Jan - 7 Apr 2012
Nottingham Contemporary
Work from different decades of practice, not a retrospective

Art is part of us trying to create meaning in the world

Some of the gallery space in Nottingham to Newling, some also went to artist Piero Gilardi, Newlings work considered to work alongside the arte povera.
Work tends to slowly change and evolve

Nine twists of nature, research drawings (1978-1979)
geometrical studies of how he felt/predicted plants grow
The first time 'research' was named as an artwork, now we bring art and research together, before they were seen as seperate

Fairly open plan in working method, not sure how the end will turn out

Constructed Siol
creates own soil from paper, makes them into small balls - Thomas Payne's Rights of Man

Lemon Tree and Me (2009-11)
made soil totest out, grow a lemon tree
seeing if it would survive, wanted a living thing to be in an art collection

set up installations of work, and also creates/performs the work in the installation - work is created while he performs.

Some books and a DVD I purchased, relating to previous art interests and things that may help me with current confidence issues I'm going through in regards to my artwork. The reviews for the two books seem very promising, and having read Ted Orland's previous book he co-authored, Art and Fear, I have high hopes for this book too. Twyla Tharp seems to have some very interesting points and views from some quick research into this book, so I'm looking forward to reading it.

“Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art."

- Andy Warhol

I need to consider this quotation more often, I feel. Sometimes I tend to feel like the work I'm creating isn't good enough so stop myself from creating the amount I'm capable of. I should just start working, and then carry on working. Of course, I shouldn't abandon everything I've learnt so far, just stop being paralyzed by fear of the work being "not good enough".

“When I walk into [the studio] I am alone, but I am alone with my body, ambition, ideas, passions, needs, memories, goals, prejudices, distractions, fears. These ten items are at the heart of who I am. Whatever I am going to create will be a reflection of how these have shaped my life, and how I’ve learned to channel my experiences into them.
The last two — distractions and fears — are the dangerous ones. They’re the habitual demons that invade the launch of any project. No one starts a creative endeavor without a certain amount of fear; the key is to learn how to keep free-floating fears from paralyzing you before you’ve begun. When I feel that sense of dread, I try to make it as specific as possible. Let me tell you my five big fears:

1. People will laugh at me.
2. Someone has done it before.
3. I have nothing to say.
4. I will upset someone I love.
5. Once executed, the idea will never be as good as it is in my mind.

"There are mighty demons, but they’re hardly unique to me. You probably share some. If I let them, they’ll shut down my impulses (‘No, you can’t do that’) and perhaps turn off the spigots of creativity altogether. So I combat my fears with a staring-down ritual, like a boxer looking his opponent right in the eye before a bout.

1. People will laugh at me? Not the people I respect; they haven’t yet, and they’re not going to start now….

2. Someone has done it before? Honey, it’s all been done before. Nothing’s original. Not Homer or Shakespeare and certainly not you. Get over yourself.

3. I have nothing to say? An irrelevant fear. We all have something to say.

4. I will upset someone I love? A serious worry that is not easily exorcised or stared down because you never know how loved ones will respond to your creation. The best you can do is remind yourself that you’re a good person with good intentions. You’re trying to create unity, not discord.

5. Once executed, the idea will never be as good as it is in my mind? Toughen up. Leon Battista Alberti, the 15th century architectural theorist, said, ‘Errors accumulate in the sketch and compound in the model.’ But better an imperfect dome in Florence than cathedrals in the clouds.”

—	Twyla Tharp; The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life