Making the break by Laury Ravenstein, Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada I have a busy life with a great husband, two almost grown daughters and my niece, who lives with me, three dogs, three cats and a horse. I also run a busy retail art supply store and teach many classes and workshops. I used to make art each day, but as the demands of my growing family and business increased, art-making took a back seat. I now get less than a few hours each week to keep playing and learning. Last week I decided to rent a remote cabin and leave it all behind for one whole week. I have some work to do that needs my full concentration. Scary thoughts surfaced. Can I still make art? Will I get all the way up to the cabin and sit alone staring at my canvases? Will anything be unique and artistically worthy? Whatever happens, I will be alone for the first time in years and the solitude should sooth my busy soul. I will also be grateful for my husband for taking over the burden of teenagers, my bosses for letting me go away in our busy season and my co-workers who are picking up the extra shifts and responsibilities. As hard as it is to disconnect from our world, leaving behind the TV, the computer and limiting cell phone calls to a minimum, I believe the constant static of our electronics and the constant demands of our full and rewarding lives can disrupt the artistic process and we sometimes need to make significant effort to reconnect with our higher power. There are 2 comments for Making the break by Laury Ravenstein
Archived Comments
Enjoy the past comments below for Managing FOMO…
Your current email, while interesting, is a bit limiting and doesn’t go far enough in scope. While I no longer feel I am missing out on the goings on in the world, I do feel the world is passing me by. What I mean is I am not interested in many of the “fads” taking place in music, art and/or technology. I don’t rush out or wait in long lines for the latest techno-gadget. In fact, I doubt most “in the know” techies, would be able to use the phone I still use today, which by all indications is considered stone age equipment. I have never been one to follow the crowd. It took me years to buy a microwave even after it became de regueur. I still don’t have own an Ipod, Ipad, or any of those items, nor do I feel the need to own them. These devices are a diversion for those, I feel, who don’t have a real interest in life. What I am more concerned about is working in a traditional method of oil painting; the new technology causing me to be passed by. The dreck passing for art is also beyond my comprehension. Being part of the “older generation”, I feel there is less and less interest and understanding from the younger generation in the work I produce, which is classical in nature. I feel that even though I work long hours and every day at this, I won’t get the recognition because my work doesn’t fit the “trendy” stuff being created. Also, again I sound like a broken record, but the economy still isnt working in my favor. My FOMO is related to doing all this work and never getting it seen or appreciated. I wonder how others thing about this.
I immediately reinterpreted FOMO as the FEAR OF MOVING ON that besets many of us. Sometimes you have to change direction quite drastically. The FOMO as Fear Of Missing Out could be the motor to this change of direction, but it is more likely to impede it. For example, so many people live or are trapped in unsatisfactory relationships for much of their lives (for reasons including FOMOs 1 and 2?), or sticking to the idyll of continuing to paint in the style you feel at home with, to keep within the framework here. I think the FEAR OF MOVING ON is much stronger and far less creative than the overkill of information, the fear of missing out – not being in on that vital Twitter message – not having a thousand “friends” on Facebook or at some other interactive zone – the subjective need to be in constant contact with the world, to be a cog in the big wheel – is futile. The FOMO as fear of missing out is a notorious time-waster. It’s a never-ending game of Tetris. The blocks keep dropping and you have to catch them come what may, as otherwise you lose the current game. Try letting them drop and then using them as stepping stones to some new idea, new technique, new creative process. Rick: The economy only works in favour of those in a position to manipulate it in some way. That could include convincing agents that the kind of non-art you are talking about is of immense value. Even better if you can convince museum curators! I think it is a better idea to take stock of one’s own situation, be truthful about it, and then if necessary discard it for something more useful.
While living as a hermit in an art cave sounds romantic and enviable to someone who battles interruptions every day, don’t you think we need people to interact with? Being alone all the time can make you depressed and less productive. And as Rick surmised, you can get left behind as far as getting your work seen goes. I’m lucky enough to have artist friends to paint and talk with, and they are worth their weight in chocolate.
Related to FOMO and more prevalent is IWIN (I want it now). Young people seem to want everything now. Fame, money and stuff; all are wanted now. Do you have your iPad 5 yet?
We are currently living in an new age of distraction and we need new age tools to handle it.
…so germain to today.I would have answered that young folks are too engaged in social media et al.However, since owning my “tablet reader”… I become caught up in the FOMO you talk of here. I dispatched of my TV watching years ago because it easily took me away from the easel….and last year I gave away my TV altogether. Joke’s on me as I allow my time eaking away again. I have also become aware of my avid reading habit. On that subject….I could in fact have a worse vice. LOL
I listen to CBC radio 2 when I am in the studio. No interruptions except for pleasant background noises from Sinisa playing with his toys.
“TECHNOLOGY GROWS, AND ALSO LONELINESS”
Had a dog that looked like that when I was a kid, named Perky, loved that dog. Had one serious flaw, he killed neighbours chickens!
Not easy, but try going cold turkey with one device and/or periodical at a time. Start with the magazine or newspaper you read least and work up. The world really will go on without you knowing what it is doing.
I am writing to you in a fit of pique….Although I enjoy most all of your letters…and do appreciate them being sent…I keep hoping that you will address the artists who are either just putting brush to canvas for the first time— are not renowned and often have no idea what you are saying in your letters..(terms, etc.)
One of my main FOMO problems have come about since I joined our local guild. I really look forward to the meetings and the demonstrations that take place there and the other opportunities. We work as a group and I hold a position on the committee. The social perks are fun. l feel I have learned a lot since I joined but I am often so active with the guild that I am doing less actual painting. I am on the telephone committee and I often think of this.
Gee Robert…Sedro Woolley is not Dull….it’s….it’s…..uh…SERENE!!! Yeah, THAT’S it!! it’s SERENE!!! Well that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!! Sling paint!
Regarding the complaint by Marti (above) it is unjustified because that is what is great about Robert’s letters–he doesn’t speak down to the less educated and ill-informed who can’t understand anyway–he accepts that art is a lofty pursuit where even dedicated beginners can enlarge their scope if they are open minded and interested in mind expansion in many directions including obtuse terms and psychological areas. While I agree that a dictionary is sometimes necessary, subscribers who don’t appreciate Robert’s enrichment should just unsubscribe.
I am 23 and FOMO is a major factor. I know it retarded my growth in University. Girls are the biggest thing I’m worried about missing out on.
Rick, I get your angst. I live with 2 techies, thus have become lazy in manipulating gadgets. Fear of moving on indeed! As of tomorrow, I’m going to re-do my website, connect with online art publisher, send out j-pegs, re-write my bio, plan a blog (?) maybe even finally join Facebook (ugh). Faith, you hit the nail on the head. It’s time for me to wake up and smell the technology! I thought that if I buried myself in my studio and did the best work possible (and I’m happy with my new work) that it would be enough. But my gallery is not presenting my work (not using my j-pegs and taking their own photos for invitations) in the most top-notch way. The work may stand alone, but presentation is everything and it’s time for me to do it myself. The gallery is but a wall, we artists have to bring their own collectors and provide the razzamatazz. Time to stick my head out of the studio and go on a gallery walk, make up new business cards, print out postcards, etc. This is a pep talk for myself.
Liz- thanks for the feedback. The problem, as I see it, is the technology is all consuming. If I were to indulge in every new gadget that comes along, I would have no time to paint or create. As it is, I take time to update my wesite, teach, go to shows of friends, frame, contact galleries, enter shows as well as sit at the computer (at night) and try and see what is happening. I contribute to this site, write an art column for a local newpaper bi-weekly and create videos to sell at shows and demos. The technology changes too quickly to keep up. It is easy to lose sight of the target and get lost in ipodland or laptopworld. Artists need to focus on work and try and get others do the heavy lifting. And there is the rub.
Robert, I have never in my entire life spent time ‘watching pole dancers in a noisy cabaret’ because pole dancers are all girls. And stripping twinks don’t interest me… But I used to WORK mixing music in such a cabaret, and it was an interesting job that still influences my current reality. Right now I’m programming CDs with music from the last 50 years, for a show opening, and then the entire run of the show, for a friend of mine. But my point here is that you just can’t produce 24/7/365. And sometimes the brain needs a distraction to get it out of the hole it’s in. And SEX can help. Even if all you’re doing is voyeuring.
I’m a guy and I’m a pole vaulter. Is that okay?
Seriously though, FOMO is real and it’s getting worse. There is some thought that all this jittery jumping around and distraction these days is due to the vast increase in microwaves in our homes and work areas. I’m not talking about the oven thing, but the smart phones, smart meters, Wi-Fi, cellphone towers, etc. As you read this, you are, I bet, not two feet from a transmission source. This may be what has happened to what used to be calm tranquility.
Dear Robert, Thank you for that! Ive HAD it with all of the hype, busy buzz, chest pounding and posturing that runs rampant on the social media sites. Painting is not a social activity. Period.
This is the best news I’ve had in some time: “Luckily, as we get older, we tend to be more settled and less likely to have our heads turned. The golden years can be highly productive.” There’s hope for me.
For a “connected dog” Dorothy looks quite calm. Maybe FOMO doesn’t affect dogs as much as humans.
I just had a good laugh……Darren the pole vaulter made me “LOL”. And I do agree, social connections can swallow large chunks of time. I am now on Face Book and am astounded at how much time one can take “liking” posts and adding them. That said, it is a good way to get feedback about one’s work. Some I post, pass unnoticed and unnoted, and others get several positive comments. Good to get the pulse sometimes… but yes, I think for many young people, it is a trap of time and attention. I have nearly run over people crossing the street, absorbed in their smartphone or whatever, and who are so into it, they fail to notice that the light isn’t in their favour or that they are creeping along and holding everyone up. Inconsiderate and dangerous! I am glad I am not thus occupied! It is almost frightening how things have changed, and I think I agree with Rick about the tastes changing and there not being an appreciation of traditional technique and the effort it takes. Those of us who do, are getting older and in many cases, not buying as much art as we did….. the times, they are a-changin’!
To a guy carrying a pole: “Are you a pole vaulter?” Guy with the pole: “No, I’m a Czech, but how did you know my name vas Valter?”
The reason old folks are not waiting with bated breath for the next upgrade in technology is because we were raised in a different era. We grew up with radios and phonographs. Period. We spent time with playmates, family, and the great outdoors. I was a teenager when we got our small, b&w TV! Young people today think they are “connected” because of their social media. They’ve been fooled. They exchanged the real world for a artificial one. Art is a solitary pursuit and sometimes you have to wait until the pressures of family and/or career run their course. My favorite room is my studio (converted from my son’s old bedroom). He’s the one who, a few years ago, sent me a refurbished laptop and told me to join the 21st century. Now he gets emails instead of letters. Ah, Progess.
Optimism causes us to think that opportunities exist around every corner, and they don’t. Around many a corner is a blind alley.
Pounding Surf oil painting, 16 x 20 inches by Grace Schlesier, CA, USA |
Well spoken…a sad statement, but I believe you are right. With the onslaught of technology, fewer people appreciate the time and effort that goes into creating good artwork.