Creating in any form can trigger the inner critic to raise doubts.
“Am I any good at this?”
“Who wants to read (or see) this anyway?”
” Anyone can see their work is so much better than mine… “
You know how it goes. I’m no different. I have these thoughts all of the time.

Quietening the Inner Critic

It’s easy to say “Don’t compare yourself to other people” but actually doing this is hard. One of the reasons I am writing the 100 Days of Art posts is because I have decided to show my work in 2025. People are always accusing me of “hiding my light under a bushel”. I had to ask what that meant. It means not allowing yourself to shine and be noticed. For me, it’s about fear of being judged. For you, it could be about something else.

Over the years, I’ve thought about the inner critic a lot. As a result, I have read many books from creative people about their process, including silencing the inner critic. Ultimately, we all need to find out own way through the maze, and that is true for me as well.

Actions I found helpful

I have so much work which sits in boxes or drawers and never sees the light of day. However, through interactions with people and focusing more on my own process, I am starting to put the critic aside. Sharing my creations is sometimes challenging, but I am starting to reap the rewards.

Here are some tips that have helped me to overcome my inner critic and get on with creating:

• First, find a quiet space so you can create without being interrupted. In the past, I didn’t have my own studio, so I wrote when everyone was sleeping.
• Secondly, set a process that you can use to switch into a different psychological space. Depending on your medium, going to a cafe or a park can enable a shift. Maybe working in an unused part of the house is useful. Playing music or meditating are other ways of making personal shifts.
• Create with a medium that brings you joy. Creating for your own pleasure is important. Creating, as a means of self expression, also contributes to personal wellbeing.
• Allow yourself to get caught up in colour, texture, language, form or whatever floats your boat. Anxiety wanes when your ideas flow without second guessing, and when you are lost in the moment, .
• Have a private place you can store your creations. I realise, in shared spaces, this can be difficult. For me, having a sense of control over who sees my work is important.
• When you’re ready to show your work to someone, be aware the work came from within you. It’s an expression of your ideas, your emotions, your passions. The work has not come from a place of competition or comparison. It is uniquely yours.
• Be aware that when others respond to your work, they respond from their own experience. They are not responding to your intentions because they don’t see what you see. This is not a bad thing. It can also bring you new insights.
• Feedback can be varied. As the creator it is your choice to ignore it or to take it on board. You are the only person who can know if it is helpful or not. So, if it is not helpful, dismiss it.

Not sure where to start?

One of the ways I gained confidence in my creative ability was through joining local workshops and classes. Being open to new skills also means being with other people who are learning the same things. Networks and friendships sometimes spring from this. For me it resulted in joining a community of artists. They are at all different points of the creation spectrum. They all work in different mediums. Our challenges are often the same. We share our experiences and our knowledge. We all know it is OK to be ourselves. This is the biggest confidence boost of them all.

“Treatment” and the Inner Critic

Choosing an image to feature in this post required some thought. In the end I chose an acrylic painting “Treatment”. This was painted early in my learning process. It was also just after I had major surgery for metastatic breast cancer in the spine. While I know this painting is not skillful, it has a huge personal significance for me. This was where I went inside myself and painted what I found. As a result, if people see it, I always have to explain what it is. No-one “gets” it. Its full of personal symbolism, and for that reason, I’m really proud of it.

My alternative name for this painting is “The Good Ship Survival”. The sea is full of pills and syringes. My body is a boat, just trying to keep on top of the turmoil below. It has eyes all over it, watching me, assessing me. It has ceased being private. My face is a CT scanner filled with toxic green. The crude scarf around the mast represents my tumour. My tumour was wrapped right around my spine, as represented by the green scarf in the painting. It had eaten through 80% of a vertebrae and had spread to several places. I now have metal rods from T2 to T9. But I’m strong and I am still riding the waves.

Illness and the Inner Critic

My inner critic also comments on my illness. It tells me not to bring other people down by mentioning cancer. It tells me no-one wants to hear about my struggles. My inner critic tells me I sound like I am complaining because I tell people honestly what my day has been like. Ultimately, my illness is part of who I am, and this painting tells it like it is. Not pretty, but honest.