Untitled by Moyra Blayney

I’ve been chatting with Moyra Blayney, our Featured Artist, about her work and her recent reboot.  She had been inactive with her art for 15 years before opening a small show earlier this year at a coffeehouse in Belfast. Since I have also had a reboot in my writing and theatre in the last year, I thought that it might be encouraging to share a few thoughts…

It’s easy to get stuck in the routine of your “real life” but I think that artists (and this is probably especially true of Christian artists) abandon real living when they trade a day job for their artistic passion. For me, it was selling sprockets (not joking) that totally consumed my productive hours and kept me wishing I could do something artistic rather than doing it.

Dreaming takes a lot less effort than actually putting paint on a canvas or words on a page. Guitar Hero is easier to master than guitar. Watching TV is easier than appearing in a play… you get the idea.

I hadn’t given a lot of thought to my own reboot until I started talking to Moyra… but her story and mine share some of the same elements… Elements that might actually form some foundational principles for rebooting… I wanted to share them.

1. FEED YOUR INNER-ARTIST… It struck me that Moyra stayed interested in reading about art and art technique even when she was inactive. For me, attending plays and reading classic literature kept my imagination active even when I was too busy to write.

Passion is something that needs fuel. This is true in art, in relationships, in faith. If you’ve stopped fueling your imagination, pick up a book…

2. FIND A MUSE… For Moyra, it’s the Irish countryside… For me, it’s the Colorado foothills… But everyone has a place, an activity or a person who ignites our imagination…

For the Christian artist, there is a wealth of inspiration to be had in our relationship with God. I’ve found that the more I seek Him, the more inspired my writing becomes. Every good gift comes from God, after all, and our artistic talents are no exception… Ask Him to bring inspiration and He will.

3. TALK ABOUT YOUR DESIRE… Nothing fuels desire like speaking it out loud… And I can’t think of many things that are harder to talk about. It’s kinda scary to talk about a reboot. Our fear of failure kicks in and we freeze up.

Find a trustworthy friend and start talking about your reboot… For me, I started saying things like, “I’m writing that novella I’ve been thinking about.” My friends were very supportive… Moyra’s friend actually set up her first show… If your friends aren’t supportive, get some new ones.

4. SET UP A PLACE AND TIME TO WORK… Moyra had a deadline for her first show and not a single, completed canvas… She set up a studio in her home and set aside time to work… There’s nothing like a deadline to motivate you to work.

I did something similar with my novella, publishing the drafts of each chapter every Monday in my blog… Pointing my desk out the window and at the mountains gave me even more of a reason to sit down and write…

If you have a “day job” it is especially necessary to set aside a certain time (maybe the hour right after dinner) to work, otherwise, you will get derailed by business.

5. JUST DO IT… Talking and planning are great motivators, but eventually you have to pick up the brush, dust off the piano or fill the balloons with paint… You don’t have to write the Great American Novel or create a masterpiece with your first effort, but if you’re ever going to do something noteworthy, you must start somewhere…

Remember that the journey of 1000 miles begins with the first step…

Want to add something or tell us about your own reboot? Comments are always welcome!

Read more about Moyra’s art here.

Read Tim’s novella, The Warrior, or check out his new live nativity script, bethlehemEXPERIENCE.