The importance of rote activities in the creative process

17/6/2013

Working out the hanging mechanism for my paper quilt

Most artists would agree. Making art isn't an uninterrupted odyssey of inspired productivity.

We have our ups; we have our downs.

The ups kindle the flame to make more art; the downs bring out our Inner Critic to question whether we can really call ourselves artists at all.

One of my tricks for getting through a bout of the downs is focus on rote tasks:

cutting paper to make a journal
gesso-ing pages in an altered book, or
preparing the reverse side of the masonite boards I like to paint on.

For my current project, rote means cutting out all the fiddly backing squares which will form the hanging mechanism for my quilt.

If I was full of energy and in a super-creative frame of mind, this job would be utterly tedious, but just now it's exactly what I'm capable of.

Repetitive activities calm the monkey mind

There's a meditative quality to repetitive work that relaxes me and releases energy blocks.

Subconsciously I build these aspects into my process to keep me going when I'm mentally or physically depleted, and keep my I.C. quiet until my well overflows into creative output again.

Over time they become anchors of my particular working style, helping to identify the work as mine.

How do you use rote activities in your process?

What parts of your process do you use in a similar way? In what way do they serve to hone your creative voice?
If you don't have any rote components in your process, might there be value in incorporating some? In what ways could this lead you to enhance and refine your creative voice?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

18 Comments

Linda De Neve

17/6/2013 11:47:00 am

The tedious stuff is very soothing to me, and I like having the prep work done when I am deep in a project. I have a huge collection of beads and jewelry makings, and when I am producing jewelry, I am not good about putting stuff away. I throw it all in a tray 'to be filed later'. Just putting it all away allows me to see new combos, refreshing my memory. Inner critic is silent when I am doing prep work.

Cherry Jeffs

17/6/2013 12:33:54 pm

Yes, it seems the I.C. is quite easily satisfied really. It accepts this kind of stuff as productive. Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Linda.

Anne

17/6/2013 04:57:30 pm

This post speaks to me. I love organizing my craft supplies. I love that everything has a place. When I get my craft supplies out I tend to make a mess, but then I put it all back where it goes. Sometimes I take out patterns or clay or beads just to look at and get inspired. I print a hard copy of almost everything I write, so I have notebooks for all my poetry, etc. That feels good too. When I'm very stressed or tired I do the tedious things, like cut the corners off articles so I can recycle the backs to print on, or go through my supplies and make sure I have enough for the next project. I hope you are doing well, Cherry!

LOVE

Anne

18/6/2013 10:52:36 am

What do you do with your hard copies Anne? Do you bind them up somehow? File them? I'm interested in how you interact with them in that form.

(Wish I could say everything had it's place in my house, Anne. We err on the messy side. Always rushing from one activity to the next.
I do like the feeling of tidying up my studio between projects though. It's a way of saying something is definitely finished with. )

19/6/2013 10:14:28 am

Hi Cherry, I use a 3-hole punch and put all my poems in 3-ring binders. They are organized by title. I start a new folder on my computer every October after the Muse Online Writers Conference. So I have a year's worth of poems in each section. I didn't used to be that organized. This year's poem folder is called The Emperor.

I have one notebook that has a lot of my favorite poems from different years. When I'm feeling particularly "lost," I get those out and read them. Reading my own poetry brings me back to myself, my core, in a way.

Anne

20/6/2013 02:28:50 pm

Sounds like you've got a really good workflow going there, Anne. I love the title 'The Emperor'. Do the poems relate in some way to that or is it a metaphor?
I can totally relate to centering yourself by going through your 'best' poems. That kind of practice is so important when we're in need of orientation.

20/6/2013 05:19:36 pm

I started with The Fool, then The Magician, High Priestess, Empress and now I'm on The Emperor. I'm making my way through the Major Arcana with folder titles. I hope to get to The World one day!

robyn link

21/6/2013 01:52:19 am

You make such a good point, Cherry. I feel exactly the same way when I do the beading for my totems. Carving also takes me into that meditative zone though I do need to concentrate in case I slice off something important.

21/6/2013 03:19:20 am

We wouldn't want you doing that, Robyn. We want you with all your carving digits intact!
Do you find yourself thinking of other pieces you might make while you are carving, Robyn, or is that something that only comes to you at other times?

23/6/2013 06:41:56 am

I do ponder over ideas while carving and I've learned to have a notebook close at hand to jot them down.

24/6/2013 06:53:33 am

Notebook, good idea Robyn. I'm trying to keep mine in a file on my phone, otherwise they are scribbled on scraps of paper all over my work table and then I never know if I've copied them over or not so I don't want to bin them...

21/6/2013 03:21:07 am

Is the naming affecting the progress of the work, do you think, Anne?
(Oh, I feel a shared book project coming on...)

23/6/2013 02:18:22 pm

I think, well, this is an Emperor year. How is my life reflecting that? And it has been a top-down, other people influencing me, rules, kind of year. So it is another way of looking at things. I don't know if it affects my actual work/poems so much though. What shared book project? :)

24/6/2013 06:51:11 am

I thought it would make a great book theme: Empowerment/creativity activities around the Tarot deck...But as you are aware, Anne, what I know about Tarot would fit on the back of a postage stamp. You however...;)

24/6/2013 07:50:06 pm

I actually think that's a cool idea! The thing is to not duplicate what's out there. I have a book, "Tarot for Writers" by Corrine Kenner. I used to have a book called "Astrology for Writers." I think you'd love the symbolism if you researched the Tarot. I've been reading "Tarot Wisdom" by Rachel Pollack, which is pretty exhaustive. Almost done with that. The thing is to get yourself a Tarot deck, if you don't have one already.

LOVE

Anne

28/6/2013 03:57:05 am

Yes, of course there must be lots of books in that vein already Anne. I have various decks - albeit digital ones - and, yes, the imagery is very intriguing butI feel I'd need another lifetime to learn enough about tarot to weave it into a book on my own...

Anne link

28/6/2013 11:32:34 pm

Cherry, if you really want to do this, email me with a proposal of what exactly you're thinking of. Are you stuck on Tarot? Or would you rather do Astrology or I-Ching? I'd have you help me with the Rune poetry book, but I still don't have an angle I'm happy with. Like I said, I'm almost to the end of a book about Tarot, plus I'm (again) working on a flash fiction project based on the Major Arcana. So I'm a little tired of Tarot right now. Just putting that out there. LOVE ya!

Anne

29/6/2013 03:45:18 am

Ok, will do Anne xxx

The importance of rote activities in the creative process

Most artists would agree. Making art isn't an uninterrupted odyssey of inspired productivity.

Repetitive activities calm the monkey mind

How do you use rote activities in your process?

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