boredom breeds creativity
This painting was created in the midst of an extreme bout of boredom. If I hadn’t become mind numbingly bored with painting acrylics, this painting would never exist. I had spent about a month trying my hand at painting with acrylics. At first it was new and exciting, it felt like a new adventure. By the time I got around to painting this one, I was losing every ounce of interest. I am not much of an artist of the realistic variety. I have no clue what any of my artwork will look like until I decide it is finished. I call my style “Abstract”. In reality, it is just a matter of luck and a bunch of paint. A small portion of the time my art looks half decent, even if just to me. The level of boredom that overcame me while painting this, was insane. I quietly mumbled to myself “What is this piece of crap, and why am I painting?” I then took a silicone brush and wrote the word “BORED” in the middle of the canvas. I poured blue and red paint above the word “BORED” as an act of disgust, threw the painting across the room, and walked away to do something else, anything else. Several months later while organizing some paintings I came across this particular painting and decided that I actually like it. Not sure about the aesthetic appeal of the painting, but it is a reminder that good things come from boredom.
boredom and the "Curveball"
I would suggest to most people to try and soak in a bit of boredom on occasion. As an experiment, try and discover why you are bored. In some cases it could just be that your life has become obsessively routine and it’s time to throw yourself a “Curveball”. There is no stopping the occasional bout of boredom in my case, or at least nothing I have found that is a one time action, but the “Curveball” method has worked pretty good when needed. The “Curveball” is just the name I use instead of saying “SWITCH THINGS UP”. If you take the same road to work, or wherever you go, day after day, take a different road. If you always shop at the same grocery store, shop elsewhere. If you always buy “Original” flavored packaged foods, try eating some fruit. If you always seem to wear burgundy slacks on Mondays, try switching to neon green, or orange, or pale blue. Go for the mohawk instead of the crew cut, or bring back the mullet. Rearrange your room, or dust off the bench you sleep on, it really doesn’t matter, the point of the “Curveball” is to make an intentional change. If you don’t want to throw yourself a curveball, then just sit with the boredom for a while and soak it in, maybe even sit in a different location. There are all different types of boredom and most likely the results will vary, but maybe the “Curveball” method will help you enough to find an even better approach for yourself.