Dear artist whose medium is no longer comfortable,
The idea of continuing your art, let alone finding joy in it, can feel daunting when your body or mind demands new ways of working, or when accessibility becomes a daily negotiation.
Dear artist whose medium is no longer comfortable,
Dear artist whose hands ache, making your usual medium feel impossible.
Dear artist whose vision blurs, making fine details a daily frustration.
Dear artist whose energy ebbs and flows, limiting the scale of your usual projects.
Dear artist who wonders if your tools are still yours to command.
This is for you.
It feels like something is wrong, but nothing is wrong. Your path is simply evolving.
It's profoundly challenging, and often disheartening, when the very materials you've always gravitated towards, or the physical act of creating with them, suddenly feel out of reach due to shifts in your health. You might be experiencing a deep sense of frustration as familiar movements become difficult, as cognitive changes impact your ability to engage with certain tools, or as medication side effects alter your fine motor skills, affecting your relationship with certain mediums. The idea of continuing your art, let alone finding joy in it, can feel daunting when your body or mind demands new ways of working, or when accessibility becomes a daily negotiation.
But what if these shifts aren't a sign of creative failure, but instead are a powerful invitation to explore new possibilities within your current mediums, or even to bravely discover entirely new forms of expression? Your health might be gently, yet firmly, guiding you towards different scales of work … perhaps smaller, more intimate pieces when energy is low, or broader, more gestural strokes when precision is a challenge. Or perhaps, like
recently shared in this beautiful interview, some of the same reasons actually cause your scale to go larger?Maybe your health could be prompting you to seek out accessible materials or tools that better accommodate your current physical and mental requirements, opening up unexpected avenues for creativity. Sometimes, you might seek familiar mediums for comfort, while other times you might explore new ones for distraction.
This isn't about abandoning your unique artistic voice; it's about honoring it by finding new pathways for it to express itself. This might mean making physical adaptations to how you work with materials and tools. It could involve experimenting with different grip aids for drawing, exploring digital mediums if physical ones are taxing, or simply adapting your techniques to suit your body's current capabilities and limitations. Sometimes, the most profound creative act is in reimagining how you make art, allowing your process to evolve in conversation with your health, rather than fighting against it. Financial considerations related to health expenses might also limit access to certain materials or tools, prompting further adaptation.
Your artistry is not confined to a single tool, a specific technique, or a particular pace. It lives within you, resourceful, resilient, and ever-ready to find new ways to manifest. Trust that you can find comfort in familiar materials by adapting their use, or bravely explore entirely new forms of expression, always honoring what your body and mind need in this present moment. This evolution is not a deficit; it is growth.
You are still an artist, you will always be an artist, and your capacity to adapt, to innovate, and to continually find new ways to engage with your chosen medium is a powerful and beautiful part of your ongoing creative journey.
With deep admiration for your resilience and ingenuity,
A fellow creative.
Kathryn
It is worth it to look up Grandma Moses who took up painting when embroidery became too painful. She was in her late 70s when her painting career began, and that is how we know her! Sometimes we are forced to make an artistic change — and it really is for the best.