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Hello Friends! Welcome back to Practice Practice.
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What's the one thing you can always count on? Change. Can you reliably predict how/why/when that change occurs? Nope. So what should you do? Embrace it!
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This week, we're reflecting on ways artists work with change, transformation, and the uncertainty. This part of creative practice can be destabilizing, frightening, thrilling, and even motivating--sometimes in equal measure. Welcome to the void.
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In the season finale of our podcast, we interviewed Amy Sanders de Melo. Amy is no stranger to uncertainty. She shares all about her choice to pursue visual art even though her vision is changing.
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Practice Practice Podcast: Amy Sanders de Melo
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Amy Sanders de Melo is a Colombian-American artist and disability advocate living and working in Oklahoma. As an interdisciplinary artist with both vision and hearing loss, she strives to create ceramic vessels and installations that speak to the resiliency of the human spirit.
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We talk about community art studios, pricing work, deadlines, and the mystery of losing and/or becoming yourself.
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Practice Uncertainty:
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Here's our tried-and-true method for centering yourself creatively when you don't know what comes next:
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- Admit you don't know whats next. Try saying it out loud. When people say "So what are your working on next?" You can say "I don't know yet." This might feel uncomfortable at first. Discomfort is a normal, healthy feeling.
- Start where you are: today, right now. When you imagine a million terrifying possibilities, its easy to miss whats right in front of you. Take things one-at-a-time. It's time for lunch? Make lunch, eat lunch. The mess is causing you stress? Tidy up.
- Notice what feels supportive. As you go through your day, there will be moments/conversations/ideas/snacks that feel supportive. Notice that feeling and follow up on it. Let yourself get interested in swimming, or strawberries, or the color green. You don't need to make these new interests productive or turn them into art. Just enjoy the support they bring you.
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Remember that creativity is a cycle! Your uncertainty could be an invitation to rest and reflect instead of jumping into the next idea.
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We'll be back in 2 weeks.
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Until then, keep practicing!
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