Get comfortable with being uncomfortable – because that’s what learning can feel like!
Transcript
This is episode 2 of the Art Fit Podcast. Hello, I’m Anna Battle, Shiny Happy Artist and your host of the Art Fit Podcast. Now, just as physical fitness is good for your body, Art Fitness is good for your mind. And you don’t need to be an Olympics level professional artist to benefit from Art Fitness. But what is the point? How do you actually do it? How do you fit it all in? Well, I’m on a mission to help you get Art Fit.
This podcast is brought to you by my Shiny Happy Art Club. I send you a brand new high quality guided Paint Along each month, in acrylic and watercolour, as part of a lovely group of art friends from around the world. So, you can become a Shiny Happy Artist and get Art Fit.
Now today, I’m going to talk about something that I have recently added to my spiel that I say at the beginning of every online class and every face-to-face class. I usually run through these 5, what I call Anna-isms, just to get your head in the game. But this is one that I’ve added to the list, and I say at the beginning now, of every single class. And it is, to have a learners’ mindset. Having a learners’ mindset is actually a gift to yourself, to remember that when you’re learning something, it’s often uncomfortable, okay? So, you’re learning a new skill, you’re wanting to get better at it, obviously. But while you’re learning, it is a little bit uncomfortable.
The key here is to let yourself learn. I saw this just last weekend. Actually, I was in Goondiwindi, which I was doing 4 classes over 2 weeks… 2 days, I mean. And there were about 12 people in each class. In my very last group, I had about 5 younger people. So, women in their 20s probably, and they just buckled in and did everything I asked them to do. They weren’t nervous at all; they were used to learning. I found out afterwards that a couple of them were new to town; they were there as paramedics, actually. And my goodness! They were just confident in their ability as learners. They all painted in different ways; some of them did ask for help with different things, but they got in there and they were just happy to take the instruction and do it.
Now, they’re comfortable in their learners’ mindset. Whereas, some of the others in the class weren’t necessarily as comfortable. And this could be you. I don’t know for sure, but just look at yourself and see how comfortable you are, as a learner. do you need to be an expert in anything and everything before you try? I hope not, because there’s so much to be learned, by allowing yourself to learn. and this is the way you’ll be able to grow that creativity muscle. So, next time you’re listening to some instruction, when it comes to art or discovering something new, look you might not even like the direction that it’s going. You could think, “I’m going to draw this flower and I’m going to draw it with crayon, and I’m going to throw in some fluorescent paint.” I don’t know, I’m just guessing it what the options might be, but you might get into it and think, “this is pretty terrible,” but what is the learning that you can take away from that?
So, for every occasion, you could think, “Oh no, that paint really didn’t work with the crayons.” And if you say it with a laugh in your voice, you are so much more likely to be able to take that learning; and it’s not a mistake anymore, it’s just a learning that you’ll take on to the next painting. Okay. So, it’s as simple as that. So please, if you are starting out your art journey, please have a learners’ mindset. and even if you are more experienced and you have already done a lot of art in your life, in all art like subjects, maybe you’re a cake maker, maybe you’re a sewer, maybe there are other things that you’ve done in your life that you think you should be good at art, sort of, let it go and let yourself be an actual learner, and sort of drink up the learning that is offered to you by me of course, but with any teachers that might be giving you some ideas for art, sort of drink it up, take away what you wish, but allow yourself to let that learning in. And you just never know what the results might be.
There will come a time that you need to just produce work. But right now, if you’re on your journey to Art Fitness, I really recommend having that learners’ mindset. So, keep that on board, recognise the mindset or what you’re thinking when you go into a class or you’re listening to a class, and think, “Am I being a learner today?” And that will be a fabulous opening; the door will be opening wide to becoming Art Fit. So, file that one away. Think about how you operate, and I will see you again. I’ll talk to you again, in the next episode.
So, you want to get Art Fit? We’ll find out when the doors to the Shiny Happy Art Club open next. There are 24 online Paint Alongs to choose from when you join, so you’ll definitely find something you love. And now, there are also $15 and $25 subscription options. So, go to www.shinyhappyart.com to pop your name on the waiting list. I look forward to painting with you in the Shiny Happy Art Club. And until then, I’ll be back in your ears with the next episode of the Art Fit Podcast.
