I'm really interested in how we're always trying to make meaning out of abstract things.
As humans, that's something we're so drawn to, we're meaning-making machines.
I'm Colette Robbins, and I'm an artist.
Psychology has been a theme throughout my entire career as an artist, and my work right now
is a lot about dealing with the imagery of a Rorschach ink blot.
I make representational drawings that have lots of strong textures, but then I'm placing
inside the ink blot these landscapes that are very isolated, and because they're kind
of an abstract shape, and because they're a Rorschach format, the viewer comes in and
projects their whole world upon that.
It's almost like you're opening up somebody's thought or emotion, and you're seeing kind
of the world inside of it.
I think inspiration comes from a planting of curious seeds everywhere.
I don't think there's a light bulb moment.
There's more a series of small things that then lead to a big growth.
You start to see things manifest, then that's where the ideas start coming, and then you
start practicing putting things into action, and then they can keep growing and developing
into things.
Then I do think that's where the discerning voice, the self-critic comes in, and you kind
of step back and you say, how do I want to put this into place, and you give it a chance.
A huge part of being an artist is fine-tuning that self-critic.
Sometimes you're going to be on the side where it's like, you're doing awesome, great
work!
Sometimes you're like, no!
And you need to listen to it to an extent because you have to decide whether it's coming
from your inner trolls or if it's actually something that's pushing you further.
So I think self-trust is actually extremely important.
Self-critic should have a nice balance of trust and pushing, and trust and pushing.
If you want to be successful and thrive, then you've got to practice those things.
Growth as an artist isn't always a smooth path, and it's not always these aha moments,
but if you keep fueling the curiosity, that kind of keeps pushing you forward.
That leads to drive, that leads to inspiration, that leads to success, in my opinion.
