In Real Time
Musings on sharing the creative process, with a side serving of dog and mushroom photos :)
Somewhere along the way, the practice of sharing my work on the internet has shifted. In both my social media and my videos, I've always aspired to be honest and real about my creative process: the joys and triumphs alongside the false starts and disasters...and everything in between. And yet...
It's so easy to get sucked in to crafting a story. This happens most especially with my illustration work, which is the most "work-like" work I do. Right now, in fact all spring and summer, I've been working towards the launch of a new range of stationery and two knitting pattern booklets to come out this autumn. I've been painting furiously on this project every single day, but I've not once shared it on my social media. Why not?
There are a lot of reasons, but a big one is that I'm scared of expectations. I've suffered creative burnout before, and so I'm always wary of announcing the arrival of something I've made until I'm fully 100% sure I can deliver it. This moment is usually very late down the line, and often not concurrent with the moments where I'm feeling the real joy and elation of making it. In truth, when the product shows up and one is perhaps meant to feel the thrill of anticipation about sharing it with the world...that's reliably when I feel flat, worried nobody will like it, and actually would rather just think about something else.
But here's the snag: I want to sell those things I've poured my heart and soul into for months, to make the income to keep doing this work. Therefore I have to cultivate some excitment for their launch. And so, this is how sharing my work on social media has somehow shifted, away from being a true reflection of my working life into....well, mostly just photos of mushrooms and my dog. And then at launch time, a flurry of news about my artwork that must seem like it's been plucked from thin air rather than the result of many months of dedicated work.
One option, of course, would be to attempt to bottle that feeling while I'm working on illustrations for release down the line, and draft my "content" (does anyone else hate that word?) for the future in that moment. But that all feels even more disingenuous, and frankly well beyond my organisational skills.
The other, and the one I am choosing, is to cultivate an intentional return to sharing the process. This came easily when I first started making videos and illustrating as an aside to full-time work. Because most of my energy was used up by my job, art-making was a luxury and not one I imposed any deadlines and expectations on. Now, thanks to luck and also a very generous community of customers and patrons (thank you!), it is my full-time job. That changes things, but I don't want it to change what is at the heart of why I started making art in the first place: honesty.
As the way I'm sharing on the internet is changing - yes, I'm falling in love with this newsletter/blog! And like everyone, out of love with instagram - I feel like here I'm carving out another space, just like my videos, where I can tell the stories of what goes on in my studio, in real time.
And so with that in mind, here's a selection of photos of things I've been working on the past few weeks, which may or may not make it into my shop this autumn, depending on innumerable factors that will be out of my control until the products show up!
And, I’ve just scheduled my next YouTube video - which is a chat all about knitting - for a premiere next Friday at 7pm BST. If you’ve never watched a YouTube premiere before, they’re fun! You can live chat (in text) along with me and other viewers in real time while we all watch together. I hope to see you then, but if you can’t wait, this video is already available on Patreon.
Thanks so much for reading and following along with my work!
Katie :)
Hello Katie. Thank you for this sharing on the transmission of your work, your creative process and the best way to make it feel its temporality, its ebullition, as well as failures. And I realize that I feel the same but I haven't put the words to it. I haven't posted about my work (on instagram) for months, yet I'm on a big project.
I feel guilty for not showing more and with every step. But it's a fact, when I've done it before, it put time pressure on me, and pressure to make everything I showed happen. The creativity : It's calm and introspection and maybe a kind of intimate moment that can take a long time to hatch. And the fact of creating your space, apart from Instagram and its disproportionate visibility requirement, seems to me more calming and at your own pace. Besides, I'm thinking of mine. And your words give me this conviction that it would be a good choice. Thanks for those thoughts! Your work is superb, you have a lot of talent. And we feel, without a doubt, your honesty in everything you do. What makes in my eyes, your work and your personality so appreciable. (I love all those mushrooms, they're all beautiful. And so is Jack!)
I don’t like the way Insta is forcing creative people to work in ways that aren’t meaningful for them, whereas a substack or newsletter can work as an artist wishes it to. I also find they, like YouTube videos, commands my attention more, because they are crafted with love, and don’t arrive often.
It’s important your able to use the medium that works best for you, and notice a number of creative people with established businesses have moved away from regularly sharing on social media, just posting when they release something new. I really enjoy seeing your work for what it is - it was lovely to see the mushrooms and squirrels come to life, but also your whale comic which you did for the joy of it.