What Frustrates You?

I read an insightful article by Modern Ms Darcy (and the one that inspired her) earlier this week. The premise was that frustration can be a powerful motivator, if utilized wisely. So I started thinking about what frustrated me. A lot frustrates me, actually. I feel like I have no time, like my house is always trashed, that diapers have forever ruined my budget. I suspect all parents feel the same way.

But this is primarily an artistic blog, so I started thinking about what frustrated me artistically. And I remembered that I have a super-secret reason for creating art, one that I don’t normally share because it isn’t the kind of “mission statement” you want out there. And I need to offer the disclaimer that I appreciate all artistic forms of expression (well, I try to anyway), I recognize the skill, dedication and passion, and I know that I have a long way to go in my own artistic development.

So you ready? Here goes:

I find a lot of art booooooooorrrinng. Like BORING. All caps.

I look at landscapes and want to jazz them up. I look at portraits and want to add some zazzle. I look at flowers and want to add patterns, to make them more interesting. What’s funny is that as a kid I didn’t like abstract art or impressionism (and other similar movements) and was of the opinion that it didn’t take any skill at all to paint/draw in such a way. The monumental hubris of kids.

Now, of course, I find myself comfortably ensconced in the abstract camp, playing with my psychedelic colors and complicated patterns. Real elephants are beautiful, but so are neon pink and bright green ones. Real foxes are almost irresistably cute, but foxes with red, purple, pink, and green are even more so, in my opinion. Mandalas with complicated patterns are fun, and so are crosses embued with imagery and fascinating colors. I’ve even begun contemplating doing a landscape with my blend of bright colors and patterns.

So I guess I can say with complete honesty that I used my frustration with realistic landscapes to fuel my own passion. I have rescued the art collectors in my area from boring art (not really, because there are some incredibly talented artists in this area that I look up to, but my sentence sounded cool). I have injected bright colors and patterns into our desert landscape.

Now it’s your turn. What has frustrated you artistically? Is it artists like me, who ignore reality? Or something else? I’d love to hear!

And as always, art on, my friends.