My sister-in-law put me on to an absolutely wonderful book that I am simply savouring. It’s called Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland and I would highly recommend it to anyone wading into the creative waters no matter what phase of life they may find themselves.
What I am going to do every so often is pull a quote from this book, or any other, that applies to something I’m dealing with or refers to a place I may be stuck currently or some heroic triumph I may have overcome on the artistic journey of perfumery which hopefully may give you some inspiration to keep on creating.
“Making art now means working in the face of uncertainty; it means living with doubt and contradiction, doing something no one much cares whether you do, and for which there may be neither audience nor reward. Making the work you want to make means setting aside these doubts so that you may see clearly what you have done, and thereby see where to go next. Making the work you want to make means finding nourishment within the work itself.” – Art & Fear pg.2
Let’s be honest. It’s freaking scary to think that I’m investing a boat-load of time, effort, and savings only to come to terms with one facet of this art which is that no one might care or even want to purchase my creations. So why the hell continue?
The power of these words for me, especially being in the very early stages of learning perfumery (my second year), lies in the wisdom of learning to make perfumes simply because it feeds my being. Period. It is powerful because it is this nourishment that gets me through the the many moments of doubt, fear, angst and general uncertainty which is such an intimate part of the process of creating. And I love it all.
Please be happy doing whatever you choose to do today.
Her Two Scents 