Thank you all who took time to read and comment on last month’s post Baffled, Dumbfounded, Puzzled. It was encouraging to read the responses to the dilemma of being stuck! The questioning of one’s ideas presents itself at any point in the creative process. I constantly seem to be baffled as I leave the INSPIRATION stage — I appreciate being inspired and researching my subject or theme. I thrive in this stage! It is probably the reason that each of my books takes so long to create. For me INSPIRATION is the optimal stage as it captures a dream world that I love to linger within!

A creative opportunity knocked during the process of my most recent book Infatuation which brought another inspiration. An idea took shape. I reflected on the representation of this recent theme. Thoughts where all over the place as my muses came and went, blew hot and cold, appeared and then disappeared. To finally re-surface giving me a yo-yo experience of frustration!

One of the responses received — this one directly from my blog page — was from Cherry Jeffs in Spain.

From my own experience and that of my clients, I’ve noticed that feeling stuck is commonly caused by one of these:

1 - Simply a need for more ‘information’ e.g. research or sketching. We haven’t completed the ideation process. There is still something crucial missing in our idea.

2 - Dissonance. The idea we’re pursuing doesn’t really resonate at a deep level.

3 - A need for more risk in the work. We might be skirting round a really important theme or avoiding a certain approach because it feels challenging.

4 - In fact 3 can also be the cause of 1 or 2! In all cases, we might be trying to force ourselves into the next stage of developing the idea when we haven’t yet arrived at a worthy idea.

— Cherry Jeffs

Reflecting on Cherry’s comment, I related to number three “avoiding a different approach because it feels challenging.” Lately I find that it is the structure that causes me to pause and wonder how to bring my project to reality.

Life brings many curves. When daily responsibilities are hard to cope with, being in the clouds, dreaming and thinking of the inspired idea may not be practical but so satisfying! Now reality has set in, and I must continue on the path of creativity.

© 2023 Louise Levergneux. Collected sand from Malibu Beach, California.

Thinking of the many comments through emails in my in-basket, I started investigating my idea: what type of structure, what kind of images (colour, texture…), and which genre of narration?

I’m back and ready to work, I’m not saying the « stuckness » won’t repeat itself but maybe the next time I will have fun while putting aside the work and play with a yo-yo to capture a distinct vision.

Conversations with like minded people are one of the benefits from having an entourage of artists who can bring clarity of mind while producing an artistic endeavour — in this case an artists’ book. The reason exchanges and comments are SO important.

Any change in life, even the renovation of an itsy bitsy teenie weenie kitchen, is difficult as our private wold is frequently reflected in our art, which makes going to the following stage sometimes annoying.