Quotes

I love hand lettering quotes, I have a whole Pinterest board of quotes that I use to practice with.  Today I wanted to share with you a piece I made for our guest bedroom.  I plan on changing out the art as I progress.  I am going to keep the old pieces in the frame too, so when I go to switch them out I will be able to compare to my older work.  It will, hopefully, be encouraging.  

The quote I used was:

“Creativity takes Courage”

– Henri Matisse

As I was lettering it I was thinking about the quote and what he meant and what it means to me.

Henri was an artist, and this quote I think resonates with everyone.  Anyone who is trying to put something out in the world that they created, knows it takes courage.  Because of this a lot of people don’t put out work. Even the best artist have done this.   I do this all of the time, because I am too consumed with what others may think.  Ironically what makes me want to be an artist the most is because they have enough courage to go out there and do what they want to do.

Now, I think you do have to be careful, I am not talking about doing illegal things(and I hope what I am saying here is not misinterpreted or taken out of context), I am talking about pushing to put out beautiful things that you have created and sharing them with the world.  Even if your world is just a few people who read your blog.  

I have been mulling over this for awhile (all my life).  I’m sharing the following with you in hopes that it will encourage you, I am not looking for sympathy in any way.  I have recently been going through my thought process and have noticed this to be a big issue for me.  I am writing on this blog to share my experiences and my thoughts as I go through my hand lettering adventures and it’s keeping me accountable and pushing me to be better.

I have always been “shy” or whatever people wanted to label me as.  To be completely honest, the problem I have is, I care too much about what others think.  In school I wouldn’t give into peer pressure or anything like that, so I never thought I had this problem.  I didn’t care if people in high school or college liked me or not. I did care, however, if my family liked me or if my employers liked me, and that is why I followed the rules.  I followed the rules of the people I respected.  I honestly think that’s a good thing, except for when it gets to the point where I am crippled by the idea of doing anything because I am afraid to mess up or do something wrong.  It also leaves you with zero confidence.

I know lots of people who have to deal with this,  I hope (if you struggle with this) you are able to push through the issue.  I am not blaming anyone for this other than myself, and being human.  I think this is an easy thing for anyone to fall into.  Don’t be paralyzed by things like this, and if you are you should be seriously evaluating the way you are thinking, or be talking it through with someone else that can help.

If you need someone to talk to about this leave a comment and I will contact you.  I really would like to encourage all of the artist out there to keep practicing and pushing through even if you are not in love with the work you’re putting out, practice makes progress.