A Recession is the Perfect Time for Creative Expansion!
Shot by Shatimah Monaé
There’s a reason why stock investors buy up more stocks during a recession or wealthy art collectors spend even more on art during an economic downturn. It’s because while everyone else is contracting and hanging on to what they have, it creates space in the market for others to expand into. Taking up more space is the lesson I’ve learned this year.
I’m not encouraging myself, or anyone else, to spend more than they have or make risky financial decisions. But I am encouraging myself, and you, to take creative risks, not to be afraid to pivot, to quit, and find new ways of doing old things.
The slowness this year brought, gave me time and space to measure how well my internal experiences are aligning with my external ones. Turns out my internal experiences have shifted quite a bit and a creative expansion is the only way to align with my daily experiences.
Here’s what this new expansion looks like for my practice and business:
Creating outside of the digital landscape
Artist Perryn Ryan, recorded while working on an original painting in her home studio.
These last four years have been an exciting journey. I’ve enjoyed creating digital paintings on my iPad, but I miss working with traditional art mediums, the smell of art papers, and the feeling of paint on my hands. A lover of drawing and coloring since childhood, I’m looking forward to returning to that love and sharing new original works created on paper with soft pastels, paints, and a host of other traditional mediums.
Sharing more of myself, unapologetically!
Shot by Shatimah Monaé
Life is a creative practice. The struggle over the last several years has been in fighting that truth and trying to compartmentalize all the parts of me that make the creative whole. It’s exhausting and very much the antithesis of this lesson on expansion that this year has given me. I’m looking forward to sharing more of myself through:
My journal entries on this blog.
More candid snapshots of my life, artist studio, and creative experiences.
The creation of more honest art that reflects my own internal and external experiences.
A friendly reminder for the week and month ahead:
“Begin at Step 1 and leave room for the Universe to fill in the details!”
Thanks for dropping by and I’ll see you in my next journal entry!
Instagram for an online portfolio of my recent work
Website to purchase my work, commission an original, and learn more about me!
I welcome your feedback, dialogue, and conversations as I continue to share with you! Drop a comment below or email directly here!