Some days it is just hard to be creative

This year has been a lot. I moved, my kids are doing many activities, I work, and so much more that I try not to talk about much because I like keeping my personal life as personal as I can. I work on good news blogs, which switched to bi-weekly because it was getting harder to keep up with, as well as art posts when inspired. However, even with the changes in frequency, I have found this year harder to keep up with.

As time went on, the blog that gave me joy became a drain on my creativity, and while I did much of it to push myself, it really never had the intended effect.

lulu sitting near an outside water hose that is dripping. text reads: Oh man! It’s dripping again. — Leak

So as a result, I have been noticing lately that a lot of these side projects are hindering my ability to create new things. I get behind on projects that are for clients and then have no time or energy to work on new work that will hopefully help me grow creatively. With the added schedules my kids have and home projects that need doing, I am barely making time to do the minimum and have no time to make new work. Plus, I would love to get my portfolio out to potential clients or agents who might think my work/style is perfect for their project.

Then add social media into the mix, where it is getting harder and harder to be seen in this age of algorithms, not to mention being an artist in the age of attention-seeking AI slop. It all makes being a creative even more demoralizing because they take up the attention and gobble up your work into their models so they can steal your style. It is disheartening that people would rather use this than look for a human artist to make the art.

All of this has been weighing on me lately, and the work is feeling uninspiring and forced. I really want to create work I am proud of in this world. I am finding my work has stagnated, and I think I am finding that I spend more time on work that I know some of you love, and while I appreciate you all for that, it in turn doesn’t grow more work and really isn’t always my best.

Gigi the giraffe is standing over a mound of dirt where a small green plant is popping up. There is a watering can across from her and she is saying “Yay it’s sprouting!!” — Sprout

I need to focus on things that will hopefully help me be seen by people who may hire me or appeal to an agent. I need a break from trying to get appeal that doesn’t pass the algorithms’ standards. Too often I create work that only a few see, and if I want people to pay me for my work, I need to create things that inspire me more. Often artists say make the thing you want to get hired to make so people can see what you can do; however, I am not doing that enough, and as a result, I am not getting hired often if at all.

My readers probably wonder what this means.

gigi the giraffe is holding a map upside down and looking confused or lost. next to her is a sign that reads: go left… go right… just go… — Map

It means that my blog will go back to more sporadic art shares. And good news shares because I need those to have hope for the world, but even that may have to be scaled back to once a month for me to be able to sustain the amount of work that goes into one post. I need to find new art inspiration and focus on creating because I want to, not because of some internet challenge or forced creativity of my own making. I will probably also not be posting for the rest of the year. As I said before, this year has taken its toll on me, and I want the people who like my work and want to see it to want to open my emails when they see them, not ignore them.

I am trying to give myself 3 months to recharge and will reassess what is working for me as we enter 2026.

I truly hope you all stay subscribed and still want to hear from me after this hiatus, but I just cannot continue to make content that I am having a hard time motivating myself to do. And I do not want to share subpar work with you all. Those of you who have been readers for a long time have hopefully gotten to know me well enough to know that I truly value your time and attention and want to share my messy and failings, but I also want it to be work I am proud of even when it fails.

I have many social media platforms, and if you’re following me on any or all of them, I will continue to post things like good news or art when it pops into my head to do so. I am particularly fond of the app SuperNova at the moment and highly recommend it. I am just trying to have a healthier relationship with social media at the moment, so switching the phone off happens more often than me picking it up to check the socials.

Lulu the llama is sitting under a raincloud that looks like it is just over her. She is looking down at a map and is next to a sign that says lost — Navigator

Thank you all so much for the time and attention you’ve given me, I hope to see you all in the new year, refreshed and ready to create new art.

Till next time keep failing creatively, and in the new year with more art ramblings and good news 🤪.

Thank you so much for joining me on my journey.

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