Do you know someone who considers him or herself "creatively challenged"?  Of course you do! I know this because almost everyone (all grown-ups at least) deals with self doubt at some point or other. In my experience, most people believe they "can't even draw a stick figure" and those that do have artistic talent often feel like posers, and fear that someone else will realize they aren't really all that good after all. Even confident professional artists experience creative blocks.

A couple of years ago, I owned a small art studio where I'd occasionally offer art themed team building activities as well as paint and sip parties. Inevitably, the groups would include people who were there under duress (i.e. they were there only because they were obligated to be there). I don't know how many times I'd hear people talk about how bad they were at art. Curiously, those were the students I loved to have in my workshops. This was because they had no expectations, and most of them just surrendered to the idea of playing with paint for a couple of hours to please whoever it was that they were there for. Then it happened. About 1/2 hour into the painting, they'd look around the room and get a little glimmer of hope. That's because everybody's painting looked really bad, not only theirs- even mine (sometimes, especially mine). At about 1.5 hour into the painting, their confidence had grown because they were looking at their canvases and realizing that they were capable of making something pretty cool. In that last 1/2 hour, when we added those little details that bring the art to life, the transformation was complete; Those artistically-challenged people now felt more like competent creators. I'm sure none of them would categorize themselves as "legit" artists by any stretch of the imagination, and most probably quickly regressed back into that "I'm all thumbs" state of mind, but deep in the recesses of their minds a little seed was planted- and that thought alone makes me very happy.

If you think the art-challenged folks were my biggest challenge, think again! The people who had some refined art skill- whether it was painting or drawing or whatever- were the people I began to dread! Inevitably, just after walking through the door, someone would start to go on about Jane, who can paint/draw/whatever, so of course her painting was sure to turn out great. Often it was these folks who turned into my worst nightmares- not because their paintings turned out badly, but because no matter how great it turned out, they didn't think it was good enough. I also think they felt like they were being judged by everyone.  I actually had a bachelorette painting party where the maid of honor (who was some sort of an artist, and who'd already paid for her seat) refused to paint.  I tried to convince her to do something. I told her, "You don't have to paint what I'm painting, take any colors you want, paint whatever you want, just enjoy yourself." But she absolutely refused, and even admitted it was because she didn't want to be judged. She just stood there and watched as everyone else painted.

Here's the secret that most people don't know: Only of a fraction of the work produced by professional artists ever makes the cut. Most of their work ends up in the trash or getting reworked or even just painted over. And most artists aren't born with an innate talent to draw or paint or sculpt or whatever. They simply have a desire to learn and the ability to overcome their fear of failure and judgment and just practice over and over until they get it right. I think many people they feel their talent is what defines them and feel afraid of being exposed as being an impostor, or not living up to the expectations place on them by others, or by themselves.  Okay, I probably should not be attempting to psycho-analyze other people (I am certainly not qualified to do that!) - but I can say that a lot of my knowledge on this topic comes from introspection, from looking within myself. I often feel self conscious about my true abilities, even more so when someone compliments me. Even worse, I fear judgment and I fear failure. So I guess my first hand knowledge of this subject makes me a bit of an expert on this stuff after all.

Okay, so the point of this all is that in my opinion, the state of being creatively blocked and unable to make art- regardless of whether you are a skilled artist or brand new at this- all stems from fear. Fear of failing in some way- being really bad at it, wasting the materials, proving to yourself (or someone else) that you aren't all that great or even worse, talentless.  I have found an amazingly simple way to overcome my fear, to get me going when I feel uninspired and creatively blocked, and as a side effect it is helping me improve my art skill. It's called a sketch journal!

Here's why:

• Because I love working in a journal:
  • I love that I can close it up, put it on a shelf and know it is safe and secure. No one will see my work unless I decided to show them- it can be my secret.
  • I love flipping through the pages,  I love the tactile nature of it, the weight of the book in my hands, the crinkling sound the pages make as I flip through them, the way the tissue paper sounds different than the paper bag pages and how the sound of the blank pages differ from the papers that have been altered.
  • I love being able to flip to a new page at any point and begin again, even if the previous page isn't "done". I love  that I can rework it over and over and I even love the fact that it might never be done.
  • I love being able to put it away and go back to it later when I can see it with fresh eyes.
  • I love that it provides a record of my progress, of my creative journey. And even if it is really bad in the beginning, I look forward to seeing my improvement as I go.
  • I love that it provides reassurance even on my inevitable "bad" days- my journal holds evidence of all my little successes and that is enough to stabilize my confidence and propel me forward.
• Because my "smash journal" design can be made almost entirely from free, recycled materials; If I ruin a page, so what? That paper was destined for the landfill before I rescued it anyway!
• Because I have creative ADD-  I am addicted to learning and experimenting and I want to try everything. Since I make my journals myself, I can design it to fit any size or format of paper, I can fill it with substrates of any weight, texture, composition, quality- to meet my current needs.
• Because I can even add pages to a my journal after-the-fact. I can work on individual sheets of paper or canvas and selectively fill my journal with my work. I can choose the ones that represent anything- how I was feeling that month, to illustrate my progress with a particular medium, to show how my personal style has evolved.

Here's a photo of my current "smash journal"that I would love to share with you.

It was so simple to make. I only used a couple of purchased items (some cardboard for my spine and 2 screw posts so that I could easily add and remove fresh paper signatures) and I also found substitutions that will allow anyone to make this from 100% recycled/repurposed materials. If you want to make one for your self, check out my step-by-step tutorial here.