Creative / scholarly work is actually a conversation between yourself (your ideas, emotions, perceptions) and your materials and influences. Or, as glass artist Davide Penso recently put it in an interview in Glass Art Magazine:

“I didn’t and don’t presume to work in glass, but to support it and assign it the task of molding me. Glass enhanced my best characteristics and emphasized its own. In silent agreement, with respect, we use each other.”

It’s probably the best encapsulation of the creative mindset I’ve read.

Perfectionism can get in the way, however. If you start…

• trying to control the outcome (“I’d better do fabulous work!”)
• rushing (“It’s going too slowly!”), or
• instrumentalizing (seeing the work as a means to an end, as in, “This should get me an A,” or “I really want this to be the Great American Novel.”)

…then you derail the whole process.

Now it’s true that we often do want to do great work, meet our deadlines, and impress our audience (teacher, editor, gallery owner, book readers, etc.). Whenever possible, however, you should forget about those concerns while working. Develop a good nonperfectionist work process, and you will get started on projects early and work on them steadily, which alleviates a lot of the deadline pressure. And the quality will come organically, if you trust yourself, your materials, and your process–and, once you’ve reached the limit of those, your teachers, mentors, and creative community.

As for the instrumentalizing, I think Penso’s quote also beautifully articulates how, regardless of outcomes, the creative life is its own reward.

A sweet lesson to begin 2019 with!

PS – Learn more about Penso and his gorgeous work here. And check out his gorgeous jewelry and beads here.

Image: A Penso seaweed sculpture. From Glass Art Magazine and used with kind permission.