Where the Real Work Happens: Inside the Creative Life and Creative Process

Pen and ink contemporary art by Doug Ashby

I have been writing about the art I create for many years across many different platforms. Traditionally I have focused on the artwork I most recently created. I have attempted to give meaning and intention to the work, to tell the story of why I made it. The truth is that I often do not know. Making art is something I am compelled to do, and I am rarely considering, at any deep level, the reasons behind it. I am simply engaging in an activity that feels almost essential to my life. Recently I have begun questioning the purpose behind this habit. My writing has started to feel overly ego centered, as if I am trying to tell a story that is not always the authentic reason behind the art. I am beginning to wonder if there is a simpler and more meaningful approach to how I communicate about my art and creative practice. Perhaps it is time to explore more deeply why a life of creativity matters to me and how I might help others discover that passion in themselves.

This shift began as I reflected on my long career as an art educator. I have been teaching for twenty five years. In many ways I never felt like a traditional art educator, but more like a creative coach guiding students as they explored their innate creativity. The real joy in art is not the explanation that follows the work. It lies in the process itself and in the continuum of decisions that shape whatever gets made. Once that process ends I have to let the work go and offer it to others to consider, whether they like it or not. The joy is always in the making. It appears in the moments of grace when the muse seems to step in and you fall into a state of flow. It also appears in the difficult moments when the entire piece hangs on the edge of a technical problem or a creative block. Even that struggle, as stressful as it can be, is part of the experience. Once the path of the work reaches its end it is simply time to begin again. I have never tired of this cycle and, as a teacher, I have always tried to help my students understand this as well.

I have become a better creator by resisting the urge to overthink what I am doing and instead committing to simply doing the work. This is the main reason I want to shift my writing away from explaining my art and more toward sharing what it means to live a creative life. I want to bring what I have practiced and taught for years to a broader audience. I want to offer a glimpse into my creative life in the hope that it helps others recognize their own creativity and the value of living within it every day. I believe deeply that creativity is not only accessible but also learnable, sustainable, and life enhancing. I have seen this take root in many of my former students. In truth, it is the main thing that gives my own life meaning and purpose.

What will this new direction look like? I do not think I will entirely abandon writing about the meaning and intention behind my work, because that is a natural part of being an artist. However, that is not the real reason I show up each day to create. I want my writing to become more reflective, almost like a creative journal that examines creativity in everyday life. I want these essays to explore the practices and mindsets that have shaped my work as both an artist and a teacher. Many years ago I spoke to a student about this very idea. At the time I was just beginning and had not lived long enough within the creative life to understand what I was trying to express. I felt the truth of it but had not yet lived it. Even after more than two decades I am not sure I fully grasp it, but I know there is something there that I want to explore.

If you have been a reader of mine for a while you may wonder what to expect. Over the next few weeks I hope to write two to three essays each week. I want to warm up my voice, clarify the themes I am working through, and build a new and steadier rhythm. I want to develop practices that bring this new path into alignment with my daily life and use that alignment as a reflection point that clarifies what I want to communicate. These essays will lead into a larger challenge I am setting for myself in the new year. If I meet it, I believe it will help guide me toward a new, more humble, and more fulfilling direction than where I have recently been.

With that, I invite you to come along as I shift my journey slightly. I know that I do the creative work primarily for myself, yet once it is complete I feel called to release it to the world. I also want to build a relationship with those who enjoy my work that is based more on sharing the creative life I lead and less on explaining what each piece of art means. I will still share that at times, but focusing on meaning alone has been exhausting, and that is not something an artist can afford.

Looking back on my twenty five years of teaching, I believe the best moments were when I shared my life as a working artist and used that openness to encourage students to explore what a creative life might mean for them. I often said that creativity does not need to express itself through visual art as you get older, although it is a safe place to begin opening yourself to your own creative nature. I hope I can offer the same to you.

Thanks,

Doug