Now that we have all gotten accustomed to the worldwide Pandemic and its constricting measures; I have come to reflect on some regrets about my artistic practice. Looking back, I wish I would have tried a little more, and learned a lot more. I can’t place too much blame on my past self, because hindsight is 2020. Regardless of whatever year this still is, here are my…
5 Regrets about my artistic practice
- Not embracing my passion early enough
It took the threat of the world coming to an end before I decided to leave the things behind that were making me unhappy. For many years I felt stuck in a dead end job. I always stayed cheery, but each day took a toll. I wanted someone to come and save me, but I realized after a long time that no one was ever going to come. I had to save myself.
The passion I have always felt for creativity was the signal beacon all along. My journey led me to the signs, but I had to change my mindset to properly interpret the signs. Now that I have embraced who I really am, I am also embracing my passions and pursuing them daily. - Never taking art seriously in high school
Ok, this one is not so much my “fault” as it is one of those things a person looks back on when they reach a more mature state of mind.
In high school I was interested in art, but never signed up for it. I thought all art classes were just a boring process to rob you of your creativity. I wanted to have less structure in my creative pursuits. All of the students I knew who took art classes seemed pretty moody and miserable, so I never felt drawn to learn in that way. I took drama class, which fed my desire to create, but looking back I would have benefited from a few weeks of studying a colour wheel! - Not investing in art history knowledge.
Similar to my studies in high school, I regret not learning more about art history while in University. I could have taken a more varied course load that would have brought me to art galleries and exhibitions (which I frequent all the time now). Perhaps I would have grown tired of them, but I could have saved myself a lot of time if I had taken an interest back then. - Not networking with more artists pre-pandemic.
My first exhibition was in December of 2018 at an exhibition space on St. Clair in Toronto. I was so nervous to be around other artists. I thought that they all must have had degrees in Fine Arts, and that they would immediately see me as an outsider. As I gained experience in exhibiting my work, I have learned that the best way to immerse oneself in a room of like-minded people is to smile and let the warmth radiate from your soul.
I have been able to network with the few artists I met before the lock down via Instagram; but I am looking forward to more in the future, now that I have a better idea of what I have to offer. - Skipping exhibitions because they asked for entrance fees
At one point, after returning back to work from my maternity leave, I stopped entering my work for exhibitions. I saw the entrance fees as a good enough reason to stop applying to those shows, and only applied to the RARE show that did not charge a fee.
I was lucky to find a few good opportunities, like my 2 year run of exhibiting my work in the Legislative Assembly Building at Queen’s Park in Toronto; however my regret is that I may have missed out on life changing opportunities because of minimal cost savings and overall cheapness.
Do you have any regrets stemming from a big change in your life? I would definitely like to hear about them! Leave your comments in the section below, and thanks for stopping by.
Stephanie