This is a letter to myself, to artists, and to those who support us. And for museum goers. And beauty lovers. And pretty much anyone with a dream, aspirations, fear, passion, and/or a soul.
ok…. now….
Why do you think we label failure as ugly?
If failing results in growth then why am I ashamed of it? Why am I afraid of it?
I visited the MET a few months ago and I walked through room after room of MASTERPIECE paintings by artists I respect profoundly. I remember my husband pointing out another Van Gogh, a massive Monet, “oh look! Another Picasso!”… and I walked up to them feeling so overwhelmed with the magnitude of the collection and the intensity of the artist’s vision and skill; it was all so, so, so beautiful – almost too beautiful.
And then we found some sketches by Degas tucked in a corner, framed in a simple wooden frame (was it actually a space-filler while the real painting was being shown somewhere else? Probably…). They were rough and messy – torn from a notebook – critiques scribbled in the margin – parts done over because they weren’t quite right… I could almost feel his frustration, but to me, this “ugly” mess of a drawing was one of the most refreshing thing I saw that day. It refreshes me still! It was the Process.
Along with that sketchbook page came the overwhelming reassurance than every single master represented in this grand place has their own mountain of unsuccessful canvases, a tubes of expensive paint “wasted”, hours (decades) of work, self doubt, tiny victories, sleepless nights, trial and error, and a whole lot of ugly. But these things are GOOD, remember? They are not to be avoided but to be sought after because they are the face of progress. They are the process.
And the crazy thing is, we kind of love it, don’t we. Like, a lot.
Falling deeply in love with the process is the sustenance and the nurturing energy behind every single “masterpiece”. That is what I am aiming for more than ever – the sustainable passion that will carry me through years and years of creativity. With that perspective, aiming for my one-off masterpiece feels mightily shortsighted and rather empty.
While I am a million paintings away from Degas’ skill (even his rough sketchbook drawing), the more work I create, the less precious the finished piece becomes to me, and the better I become at my art. It becomes easier to complete a piece, letting it slip from my studio and into someone else’s life, and the beauty of the creative process seeps deeper and deeper into my soul. THAT has become precious to me.
I love my paintings, but I could not live without the process.
Join with the hundreds of other artists who are hard at work, enjoying the process on Instagram with the hashtag #DoItForTheProcess. The community is strong.
beautifulhelloblog.com 
Such a fantastic post!! Totally agree with you and it is soooo refreshing to hear these points! I love the rawness of ‘secret scribbles’ from notebooks, because they seem more personal than completed, polished paintings. Thanks for writing this 🙂
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Superb post filled with encouraging thoughts and things to contemplate as we move on in our process. Thanks!
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Love your approach towards art and painting. The though of enjoying the process and our progress in the journey is wonderful
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This was such a lovely post and so true! It is so difficult to remember that not everything has to be perfect and that part of the beauty lies in the process of creating. It was amazing to read this. Thank you so much for writing!
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Love the way you share your thoughts while you are painting and afterwards and even when you’re admiring the art of others. Thanks!
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This was a good reminder today! I just became a stay-at-home-mom/full-time artist, and I’m having so much more fun now because I have more freedom to just practice, make mistakes, and let them go. My hours in the studio used to be so few that failures and ugly work felt like I had just lost a precious opportunity. Now I have the chance to focus on the process and I’m feeling relaxed and more happy about the work I’m making. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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I absolutely agree about the process being oh so incredible. I was definitely inspired 🙂
https://rubina21.wordpress.com/2016/02/03/do-it-for-the-process-the-community/
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This a really good post!! I agree with you that the process is also really important when creating an art piece.
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Beautifully said! I totally agree and love this. Sometimes I focus so much on the finished product that I miss the beauty in the process. No more! More falling in love with the ugly and the process for me!
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Love this!! Have you checked out the “Jealous Curator?” It’s a blog and she is so inspiring — similar message for her entire blog. Think you’ll love it!
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I’ve been struggling lately and it’s fear based, I already feel inspired after reading this. Thank you!
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Oh this this this and this.
Thank you for posting this. I needed this. Recently I just came to the decision to completely change about my artistic practice after months and months of clinging to something that just wasn’t working for me anymore but I clung to because I felt like letting go was a failure. But ive done it and I’ve come to realise that that “failure” needed to happen in order to make way for much needed growth . it feels good to have got to this point and to have remembered to paint for the process once again.
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Oh I’m so glad to hear that! Keep taking risks that feel right and exciting.
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