Art & Risk

"Brittle Star" © 2010 Doris Olsen, Acrylic on wood panel, 12" x 12"

There exists a constant theme in our lives.  And we wage war with this theme every day.  It is the battle to risk versus play it safe.  In my life this theme has played itself out over and over again in the arena of producing a work of creativity.  And I always come to the conclusion that risk is necessary in all aspects of life, including art.  This excerpt (below) sums it up beautifully :

Being open to risk (and thus failure) is crucial. We can only truly learn and develop when we push ourselves outside of our comfort zones. According to choreographer Twyla Tharp, "If you only do what you know and do it very, very well, chances are that you won't fail. You'll just stagnate, and your work will get less and less interesting, and that's failure by erosion.” For Tharp, inventor James Dyson, and innumerable others, failure is a badge of accomplishment because it means that you took a risk, that you tried something new.  Link to article: The top 5 qualities of a productive creative and how to identify them.