I like to use the word signature instead of style. Signature is more about expressing your inner self. Your signature comes from the inside out through your hand. You create it yourself. It’s not something you are taking on. It’s what you create from inside of you. It’s you who are the creator. No one else, but you. Expand yourself, instead of limiting yourself.
Embrace all parts of yourself. Accept yourself in your full complexity, both the light and dark parts. We are all unique creatures, no one is exactly like you. You are a very special combination, that has never been seen before. Your way of seeing the world. Your upbringing and your experiences are unique to you.
Because of that, we all have our very own way of expressing ourselves, and what we want to express is our own. Of course, we also have a lot of things that are common to all of us, and one of them is the joy of creating.
Creativity stems from our desire to create, and Creativity is not just about art. We can be creative in all fields of our lives. But here we talk about self-expression through creativity. Then you can use the same methods to other fields of life because when you learn to be free in the creative process, you learn at the same time to free yourself. And then anything is possible…………
I talk about self-expression. And it is literally to express one's "self"
Maybe you have heard that it is important to find one's style as an "artist", so you stand out from the crowd and get recognized. You create your own brand. The only problem is that you can't find a style in the outside world and then put it on or use it as a piece of clothing or furniture.
Get in touch with all parts of yourself.
But in order for you to really create your visual language, you need to get in touch with all parts of yourself. Or at least as many as possible. After all, you have a very unique combination of qualities, and they should preferably be used in some way in your creations. The more abilities you can express, the more rich and complex your finished work becomes. It will certainly also be more unique.
Sometimes we find an expression we like and we cultivate that expression until it’s automatic.
Maybe we have made a brand out of drawing plants with a blue ball. We receive praises and recognition for our recognizable "style". All is well, untill you get so bored of making the same things. Especially if you do not dare to change direction, because you are stuck in the brand. It may be fine for a period of time to try a particular technique, but don't limit yourself and make a lot of rules. Remember, being creative is about breaking rules, about being free. Instead, spend some time experimenting with a lot of tools and materials you like.
Marie J.Engelsvold. “Fan of the human creative mind” Acrylics on paper. 52 x 84 cm. 2016. For purchase. Contact: Marie J.Engelsvold.
Be curious about yourself. Try expanding instead of limiting yourself. There are no rules about what you must and what you must not. Only you set the rules.
Often we can be very critical of certain traits in our expression. What do you dislike about that expression? Try to accept, instead of deny. Notice what kind of feeling is attached to that expression? Maybe it's a feeling you don't like in yourself. But everything you create is part of yourself, you can't cut anything out.
Embrace all of your different qualities, and accept them. Then you will see how things expands and flows. If you use only a few parts of yourself in your creations, you will eventually become dissatisfied and feel blocked. You will skip from expression to expression, and constantly believe that now you have found it, until you feel this block again. You build a lot of resistance, instead of going with the flow in yourself.
I think it's about integration. Integrating your differences. Constantly making more space inside yourself. At first, it may feel like a lot of resistance, when a unconciouss part of yourself wants to be recognized. That's perfectly normal. We are all afraid of the unknown.
Do you feel resistance?
You can feel tnis resistance about new things. But doesn’t it make you excited?
Because when you act from an enthusiastic place, you come into contact with your core. The place where you are whole and free. It doesn't have to be a big act. It can be a small act. It doesn't matter what you do. What truly matters is that the action arises from that enthusiasm. When I succeed, it gives me endless joy. So why not do it all the time? Well, very often, it may feel like there is some resistance. You may feel like you're trying to postpone it, even if you're eager to do it. You say to yourself, "I want to do this, but it's a little late now. I'll wait until tomorrow" Or you say "Oh, I don't have time now, Oh, it's a bit silly."
Marie J.Engelsvold. In the forrest. 2019.
I can give you an example. For a long time, I had this urge to go out into the woods with my sculptures and take some photos. I had been wanting to do it for some time before I actually did. Why was it so difficult? I really wanted to do it, but I had this resistance.
Every day there was a new excuse. The weather was too bad or the weather was too hot. The grass was too wet or I felt some pain in my leg. One day I very quickly put all the sculpture pieces into my car. I planned to stop at a forest, on my way home from the studio. But I couldn't decide where to stop. For some days the car was filled with sculptures.
I was going out of town to visit one of my artist friends. I planned to stop at a forest on my way home. I told her about my plans. She wanted to help me. "You can't do this alone"? "You need someone to take the pictures", "Have you thought about how to fix the sculptures"? "Do you have any cord?" She came up with a lot of advice that made me feel a little drained. I said, "If I have to think about all these factors and have it all planned out, it won't be fun.
I knew in my heart that I just had to act, to overcome the resistance. Waiting until everything was planned would have been another excuse for postpoding.
It is a trigger from the ego. It wants control at all costs and it wants everything planned.
I stopped by the perfect forest, on the way home. I played around for a few hours. I ignored people sitting in their cars in the parking lot of the forest.
The way they watched me as I pulled all my sculpture pieces out of the car. Or I thought they were watching me. Is it any wonder that so many people sit in their cars in the parking lot of a forest? Why don't they go out into the woods for a while? enjoying nature?
Maybe they felt the same resistance as me?
You can't run from yourself .
This resistance is nothing more than fear, fear of showing a particular part of yourself. Fear that no one will recognize your "style" anymore. But you can't run from yourself.
You can change style as many times as you want, but you cannot change the fact that you did it. I have changed my expression many times and each time I think no one can see that it is my work. But very often, people can recognize your signature. And you think you've made a huge change because you're now using an acrylic marker instead of a paint brush.
Marie J.Engelsvold. Work process. In the studio. 2019.
You can allow yourself to use all the technics, materials and medias you want. Why limit yourself? When we limit ourselves, when we feel we have to stick to some rules it’s because we are afraid. When we are free, there are no need for limitations. There are no need for rules.
For most of us, it's hard to change, and when we change something, we think everyone will see it. But just do it, it's not dangerous, and it's still you who did it. Remember, we are always a duality. You cannot cut out your shadow, your so-called dark parts. And actually, there are no dark parts or shadow. It is only because we deny their excistance. That we don’t draw them forth in our consciousness.
If you accept all your parts, including those you dislike, if you learn to love them, talk to them, and understand them, then they will not be so dark anymore. They will be transformable. The energy you used to deny them, can be used to create new things and experiences in your life. Parts of ourselves that we disown, not only drain our energies they also tend to manifest as outside problems. We meet them in other people and situations.
How we can embrace our unrecognized parts, and come alive?
Marie J.Engelsvold. “Sliding on the staircase to heaven.” Acrylics, pencil and paper cut on paper. 72 x 50 cm. Swim Gallery. San Francisco. 2018.
You go to your head, when your heart hurts.
To be free in the creative process and in life, it is important to be present. And to be present, you need to connect with your heart and body. But why is it so difficult? and so much easier to be mental with it. I woke up one night and was very unhappy. These words came to me "You go to your head, when your heart hurts".
We want to be happy and positive and then it is easier to suppress all the negative emotions. It is easier to be mental, and understand and categorize. But the feelings do not disappear when you try to ignore them, they stay and they keep growing.
So to be present with yourself is about being present with everything inside you. Also the hurted parts. What to do??
If you feel unwell, upset, angry, ashamed. Yes you feel those feelings you would rather not feel. Instead of pushing them away, feel them. Tap into your body and be present with those feelings. Recognize the emotions, say it's okay that you have those feelings. Give them space.
Sometimes it can also happen that you just fall into total hopelessness and despair, even being completely knocked out. Maybe because you do not accept and feel your feelings, and give yourself the support you need? We may be sad and angry, but if at the same time we feel that it is wrong to have these feelings, they will not disappear.
Marie J.Engelsvold. “Dark greeness” 30 x 21 cm. Photo mounted on dibond alu plate. 2019.
It’s really about feeling all your emotions, comforting yourself as you would do for a child. Once you have tried it just once, and been able to be present with your emotions and thus integrate them, you do not have to sit so long each time.
Because what happens when you say tha your felings is not okay, you are actually destroying your own guiding system. When I was a child I was not allowed to be sad or angry, it was not okay. I had to very quickly be happy again. But the feelings didn’t dissappear, and as a child you will feel that there is something wrong with you for having those feelings. You learn that you can’t trust your feelings. You learn that your feelings is wrong. I think many people have learned the same. We have learned that our feelings is wrong. So if you feel some resistance when you actually try to feel your emotions, that’s why.
I think that is the reason we are so scared of those feelings, because we have never really learned how to understand them. Never learned how to recognize them, and integrate them.
Once you have integrated a feeling, you can immediately feel that you have much more energy available .. Just because you have allowed yourself to feel, Letting yourself be yourself. Accepted yourself. It is a very small act, but it is not easy. Instinctively, we tend to escape from everything that hurts.
All it really takes is to sit still for a moment with yourself. And it takes some practice, be patient with yourself. You are okay. You are okay, no matter what feeling you are feeling. You are okay no matter if you can’t feel any. You are okay in letting go of everything that is not you.
Marie J.Engelsvold. “Trying to stay present” 27,9 x 42 cm. Paper cuts, pencil and acrylic marker on paper. 2015.
You cannot follow a must, a mental plan or an idea.
Don't do it because you think you should. You have to do it because you feel like doing it. Sometimes you cannot feel what you want because you are so used to doing what you think you should.
When do you ask yourself what you really want from your heart? If there were no other boundaries? Let your heart fly. Don't plan, let it grow. Just do something, just a little thing you feel like. Then you will feel the energy, you will be happier and it will grow in you. And it will grow out of you.
The more I dare to be in that space with my art, the more free I become. Release the rules. Release the restrictions. It's all mental, it's not you. Every time you can transform your "negative" feelings, you become more fearless. You will not be so afraid of the dark feelings in you. You energies expands from all the things that you have accepted in yourself, and all the things that you have letting go of. The false notions and limitations.
So do not be afraid to feel your heart, to feel all that you often avoid. Grief, anger and abandonment. You have to feel it, to free yourself. To be free to express yourself in all your true colors.
Marie J.Engelsvold. Sculpture making in the local park. 2020
Hope you enjoyed this post. Have a very nice day.
I’am sharing this information to you freely, from my own experiences. Hope you can use it in your own process. Any donation, is deeply appreciated. :-)
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Turtorials and tips
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- Nov 20, 2017 Go bigger. Nov 20, 2017
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- Oct 31, 2017 Wait!! Before you throw that drawing in the bin!!!!! Oct 31, 2017
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psycological aspects
- May 26, 2020 Holding your flow. May 26, 2020
- May 6, 2020 The world is yours. May 6, 2020
- Apr 22, 2020 Let your heart decide. Apr 22, 2020
- Apr 18, 2020 Create from your self. Apr 18, 2020
- Apr 4, 2020 Expand your own signature. Apr 4, 2020
- Oct 9, 2019 How to shift out of the 3d perspective. Oct 9, 2019
- Sep 20, 2019 What is it, to be grounded? Sep 20, 2019
- Sep 10, 2019 How to follow your own flow. Sep 10, 2019
- Jul 28, 2019 Releasing your resistance to the moment. Jul 28, 2019
- Jul 15, 2019 Don't wait for life to be perfect, let go of control. Jul 15, 2019
- Jun 1, 2019 How to raise your vibration, through the creative process. Jun 1, 2019
- Apr 1, 2019 How embracing all parts of you, will help you in your art making. Apr 1, 2019
- Feb 20, 2019 Don’t resist the moment. Live your dream. Feb 20, 2019
- Feb 10, 2019 Why are we so hard on ourselves? Feb 10, 2019
- Feb 1, 2019 It's okay to say NO. Feb 1, 2019
- Jan 2, 2019 Let yourself shine in 2019 :-) Jan 2, 2019
- Nov 22, 2018 Look at your obstacles as adventures. Nov 22, 2018
- Feb 2, 2018 How to stay in the process? Feb 2, 2018
- Dec 20, 2017 Slow down Dec 20, 2017
- Dec 12, 2017 There is no "right" way. Dec 12, 2017
- Dec 5, 2017 Why it's important to unlearn. Dec 5, 2017
- Oct 12, 2017 Let your feelings be your guide. Oct 12, 2017
- Sep 5, 2017 Don't be afraid of change:-) Sep 5, 2017
- Sep 5, 2017 Express your feelings Sep 5, 2017
- Sep 5, 2017 Can drawing be a kind of meditation? Sep 5, 2017
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turtorials
- Apr 6, 2019 How to start your drawing praxis. Apr 6, 2019
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video
- May 15, 2019 How to take your drawings, to the next level. May 15, 2019
- Apr 30, 2019 Be bold, let your light out. Apr 30, 2019
- Apr 1, 2019 How embracing all parts of you, will help you in your art making. Apr 1, 2019
- Mar 8, 2019 What to do when you are stucked in the creative process?? Mar 8, 2019
- Feb 20, 2019 Don’t resist the moment. Live your dream. Feb 20, 2019
- Feb 10, 2019 Why are we so hard on ourselves? Feb 10, 2019
- Feb 1, 2019 It's okay to say NO. Feb 1, 2019
