How to Keep Your Ideas Flowing with Alice Sheridan
Hop on Instagram and it seems like everyone is working on their next idea.
But how do you, sitting in your studio ready to paint, come up with YOUR next idea?
It can feel like you’re at the whim of the Muse and sometimes, she’s out getting lunch.
Ep.70 guest Alice Sheridan says there is a secret to keeping the ideas flowing… but it doesn’t come from where you think it does.
For Sheridan, countless things spark ideas. Maybe it's an emotion or something interesting a friend says. But those are much less common than where the bulk of her ideas come from: working on a painting.
For example, she’ll be working on one series and the further she gets into it, she’ll begin to have ideas about the next series.
Maybe this series is all about muted colors and Sheridan will start to feel excited about working more brightly.
She has to be careful though. She doesn’t want those ideas for the next series to change her course for this series. So she’ll write those new ideas down and let them work in the background of her thoughts while she finishes her current project.
She’s found that as long as she’s working, more ideas are evolving. The next idea will arrive if she’s found working in the first place.
Put it to Practice:
If you're having trouble coming up with ideas for painting, take stock in how much you are painting NOW.
If you aren't painting much, that might be the problem. Ideas don't happen in a vacuum. They come from the work you’re doing. They come from something hitting a snag and you asking the question, “How could I explore that?”
Or they happen when you have a happy accident and realize there’s a whole avenue you could go down and explore.
But that only helps you if you’re already working. If you’re truly in an idea slump, you’ve got to get back into painting. And you may need some external help. This is when it’s time to join a class or hop on an Instagram Challenge.
Let something external kick start your efforts, and then pay attention while you're working about where you want to go next.