Authenticity: Finding Your Voice

One of the things that I often hear folks talk about is wanting to find their own voice. What people don't realize is that finding your voice in your art takes three things: work, time and commitment. The more you work, the more your own voice will come out. Of course, this takes time. Time to learn who you are and what you like, what you are drawn to and what kind of voice you want to have. The more committed you are to doing the work and finding your voice, the better artist and person you will be.

People also don't realize that your voice changes. Constantly. You try on new voices. You borrow, blend, and alter voices. You take from them what you need. This is how we learn. We meld our voices with those who came before us, creating unique voices that, with work, time and commitment, are our own.

Sometimes our voice feels like it has been drowned out. Sometimes we need a break and need to develop a new voice. This is all a part of the process. This is the wonderful thing about working in a journal (vs a canvas or one off.) You can see how your voice changes and morphs. You can see it become finely tuned. You will see it be all over the place. You will learn how to focus it, tweak it, tune it and get what you want from it. Then you may grow bored with your voice and the process starts all over again.

Learning. Becoming something new. Remaking. Reworking. It's all a part of the process. It's all a part of finding your voice.