Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Too Close to Art?

There must be a name for this.

It happens when you create.  You work intensely with a project. You're so close to it that once it is complete, you can't see it anymore.

I've experienced this with a lot of the work I do whether it's a drawing, mural, class project or written piece.  I move from idea to the creative process and then the completed piece.  At that end stage, I can't "see" the work anymore.  Then a day or two later or sometimes a month or year(s) later, I look back and I see the work with its original intent, energy and vision.

That happened to my students. They worked intensely on their endangered species presentations, movies and extra work, then they couldn't see it anymore. I explained this creative phenomenon to the children, and they were able to understand.

Have you experienced this creative blindness?  What do you call it, and how do you work with it?  As we work with students on intense creative endeavors, it's important that we both understand, and are able to anticipate and convey the process to them in order to guide their work and performance well.