Overcoming Adversity: The Resilience of Art and Life

Finding Strength through Creative Challenges

This year has been a series of unfortunate events for me. It began with a health crisis for my Dad. Shortly after, a tree crashed into my house, causing significant damage. This forced us to move and pushed me to quickly rethink everything to keep my business afloat. Just when I thought I was getting back on track, I fell and broke my wrist.

My arm after falling over and smashing my wrist.

Before my injury, I was already exhausted. I was tired of picking myself up, dusting myself off, and carrying on. The broken wrist was a heavy blow. I even need surgery to put all the pieces back together. Now, I'm scrambling to rearrange classes. Of course, with my wrist in a cast, I can't do any artwork, which is incredibly frustrating.

A Moment of Reflection

Over the last few months, I have felt like giving up more times than I can count. Sometimes, I just want to curl up in a corner and have a meltdown. My Christian upbringing leads me to question what I might have done to deserve this misfortune. The church often explains that bad things happen as some kind of divine test.

Then, I read about Magda Szubanski's battle with stage 4 cancer. This made me realize two important things: First, my circumstances could always be worse. Second, bad things happen to good people. They just do.

The Reality of Life's Challenges

Falling apart won’t help me and just adds fuel to the misguided belief that life will be easy if you pray hard enough or punish yourself in some way. Life is tough—this is true for everyone, not just me. What matters more is how we deal with these challenges and help others cope as well.

So why am I addressing all this in an art blog? Well, making art is often a parallel journey. Almost every artwork reaches a stage where it feels like it's going off the rails. At that point, you have two choices: you can give up, or you can push through the tough parts to see what happens next.

Many people take the first route. They might cite their lack of ability, my role as their teacher, or some other excuse. Fear of failure plays a big part in this decision. But fear of success often lurks behind it too. If you succeed, even unexpectedly, you must tackle a new challenge: creating another artwork.

Embracing the Journey of Artistic Creation

Moreover, you have to surrender some control to the creative process. This surrender can be uncomfortable. For example, I am not particularly fond of the image below. While I appreciate certain aspects, the colors and composition don’t quite work for me. It’s at a point where I’m unsure of what to do next. However, to resolve the work, I need to keep going, to push through.

Work in progress, watercolour, 2025.

Any direction I take will be experimental, and it may or may not work. I can choose to add or subtract elements. Yes, there’s risk involved. But some of my best work has emerged from this very process—when I allow it to evolve and let it guide me.

Lessons from the Past

A while back, I was teaching myself how to use epoxy resin. After pouring it, I panicked when I saw it bubble up. I tried to pour it out, resulting in a sticky mess. I swore I’d never use resin again. However, my mentor encouraged me to embrace the aesthetic created by those imperfections. Following that advice led me to surprising success.

Genesis, mixed media with glass, fabric, acrylic paint, fibre, wood, fabric and resin. Ann Russell 2009.

The Importance of Perseverance

What’s clear is that if you don’t push through the rough patch, your artwork may never reach resolution. It risks being stuck in limbo or, worse, ending up discarded. Giving up can halt your creative journey entirely.

I'm not suggesting every piece of art will be a monumental success. Sometimes, the achievement lies in what you learn from the process. It's about exploring your interests—even discovering what you don’t enjoy creating—and it can certainly be painful.

The Road Ahead

There’s always a possibility that my surgery might not restore full functionality to my dominant hand. That fear is daunting, especially since it's the hand I use for writing and painting. Recovery promises to be long, difficult, and costly. However, my surgeon emphasizes that if I don’t undergo this process, lasting issues with my hand will persist. I must push through if I want any chance of regaining use of it.

The same principle holds true for you and your art. In the words of Winston Churchill, "never, never, never give up." Embracing the challenges, whether they arise in life or art, can lead to growth, understanding, and creative breakthroughs. Remember, perseverance is key to overcoming any obstacle. Let’s push through together!