Why Do I Create?

Photo: BigStock

Lately I've needed to remind myself again about why I create. I guess it should be obvious to me after all these years... but I still often lose sight of my "WHY?" 

Do I create just to enjoy the process of creating? Do I want my art to be noticed and appreciated by others? Do I want to make money with my art? Do I create because I want to share something that comes from within myself, as a gift to others? Do I create just because it's fun?... or maybe because I'm wired that way and I just need to create?

I guess the answer is probably "all of the above." To be honest, I still often get discouraged and I struggle with my "WHY?" So this is me thinking this whole creativity thing through as I blog.

I came to art kinda late in my life. I wasn't the little kid who played with paints and scissors and colored paper and made all kinds of creative "messes." No, I was the little girl who loved to color inside the lines with a brand new box of 64 Crayola crayons. I filled up coloring books, but I never imagined myself actually drawing my own pictures or painting on canvas. For one thing, I really didn't have a creative model in my family... someone I could watch to see that being a creative person was a valid way of being.. that it was more than OK to be creative just for the JOY of it. 

I discovered art when I was 28 years old and my first son was a little guy. I drew little pictures for him to find in his lunch box when he didn't like going to preschool Lunch Bunch... and it was a total surprise to me just how much I loved drawing those little stick figures! I had no idea that a simple pencil and 3x5 card and some colored markers could be so much fun! So, I kept drawing...

Years passed, and I got better at drawing. Then I got introduced to online art communities on Facebook, Flickr and blogging. Eventually I got inspired to open an Etsy shop and a Zazzle shop. Looking back, the art I created wasn't all that good, but I knew I had found something that was an integral part of who I was. I was a creative person who loved color and imagining things into existence that never had been before. And it was exciting! 

But somewhere along the way, I think I got confused about why I was making art. Lack of views and lack of sales really started to get me down. So I optimized my listings and listened to podcasts that I was sure would give me a leg up in marketing my art. I listened to Etsy experts and redoubled my efforts to make art that people would want. But all I still heard were crickets from both of my shops.

It really felt discouraging! And I asked myself over and over again... What was the point of painting these little canvases with all their happy colors when all that ended up happening was an ever-growing collection of mini canvas art on the shelves in my studio? I was sure that, years from now, my kids were going to need to figure out what in the world to do with all Mom's one-of-a-kind, funky art? 

But, you know what?... I'm really tired of thinking about my art and creativity in this way. So I'm going to try to make some mindset shifts that I hope will get me on a better artsy path. 

* I'm going to stop worrying about whether or not other people like what I create, and I'm going to create what I like anyway.

* I'm going to put my finished artwork in my shops, and then move on to the next project without wondering if someone will buy it or not.

* I'm going to stop checking "likes" and stats, and spend more time sketching and painting.

* I'm going to treat myself to some fun online creative classes that will teach me something new and spark my artsy enthusiasm.

* And I'm going to look for JOY in all I create, knowing that God has "wired" me to be a creative person, and it pleases Him when I use the gift of creativity that He has given me.

**Thank you Lord for creating me the way you have... for making me love working with my hands, for my love of color, for the gift of imagination. Please help me to look to YOU and not to others for approval and validation. Help me to find joy in the things you have made, and in the creative process that has become such an important part of my life. Inspire what I create Lord. I want to please you with all I am and all I do.