Franke, Susan and I hit the River Arts District Studio Stroll yesterday.

And …. I always feel conflicted after the stroll.

We go and we walk around  a lot of studios. We see some really cool art. We see some really overly commercial art. We also see some art that’s just plain bad.

Then I get home and I am looking at the business cards and brochures for the artists who’s stuff I like and I get depressed. Yeah, I get depressed.

I get depressed because 20 years ago I was drawing, painting and making stuff all the time. I don’t do that anymore. It’s maybe (and that’s a big *maybe*) once every six months that grab a pencil and doodle something out. And yet, we spent the day yesterday seeing people that have studios and are doing it … making art on a regular basis.

Could it be my job that keeps me from it? Does that funnel what creativity I have away from doing “art” on my own and into just doing “design” for work? Could it be that I have worked so long moving things around in InDesign and Illustrator that I just don’t know how to get what I want out of a pencil or a brush.

I started a couple of art pieces earlier this year. They each got to a certain point and I just stopped working on them. They looked okay, but I felt like if I somehow managed to actually finish them they would probably suck. And if I ever did work up the nerve to show them to people they would be thinking all the same thoughts I have when I see that really bad art on the Studio Stroll.

Ultimately, what it probably boils down to is my utter terror of failure.

And I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that I should quit whining about my lack of initiative and fear of failure on the art front and just get off my duff and start doing it. And you’d be right.

Annual Studio Stroll Shadows: Chas., Franke and Susan