By Ben Zoltak
In two days, a group of fine jurors from Sauk County here in Wisconsin, will let a pride of artists, myself included, know whether or not our design was chosen to enter the final round for sculpture to be situated along what will soon be Wisconsin’s largest bike trail: The Great Sauk State Trail. I entered this competition a few weeks back and whether or not my design is picked, as an artist, as someone who has to create, it felt great to meet the deadline and enter the contest.
My creative energy moves best when it’s punctuated by progress. Something to chew on if you’re a craftsperson or creative. The art making part is generally all things good, that is: cathartic, fun, endearing, engaging, thoughtful and of course an infinite number of other things. Then there’s the other half, some call it validation, or it may be the monetization piece, or both and more. Contests and competitions are certainly not for everyone and not at all for all artists, same thing goes for monetization, art galleries, art festivals… I’ve been studying this particular dynamic my entire life, as an artist it’s been my passion and always a part of my profession to whatever degree in time and rewards it can be. As a young artist, life many things in life, you may find yourself trying to please many toxic people that have little interest in artmaking just because they’ve got you on the hook for something else. Your creative energy will become uptight, compartmentalized and dehumanized because you’re trying to hit an impossible goal, please everyone’s definition of what an artist is, what a creative person is supposed to be.
It’s a Catch-22 that I’m here to assure you, can be overcome with that easy two-step Tango I mentioned above, make art and do the other thing, then repeat cha-cha. A key to it, of course, is defining that other thing. I mentioned a couple of the most obvious items career artists like myself look at above, but if you’re someone who enjoys doing something creative and you’re not looking to make a living from it, that other thing may be a meditative state, comfort, emotional balance, reflection … scrutinize whatever you do during and after your creative endeavor, and try to examine whether or not you see an appetite for something else. Any of the things above, or something else entirely. Now you can use that as a tool to lift your creative energy, knowing what your carrot-on-a-stick is, or as my children say in their internet-parlance, it’s so satisfying. Find that satisfying piece, and you just discovered a creative lever to pump you up whenever you need it.
Thanks for reading…still lots to do with my website…it’s been slow going. I have some experience with html and other website related things, but the game has changed a lot since I last played. I’m hoping the fine folks at Bluehost will be helping me soon. I’m stoked to be writing on my own platform though, welcome to Warm by the Fire, you’re the best.
Ben Zoltak