When it hurts to the core, it can cause you to doubt yourself, feel uncreative and cause other problems. So how do you deal with it?

Well, it may differ depending on the person and actions, but in general I’ve found:

• Keep busy! Keeping busy helps keep your mind occupied so you’re not dwelling on the negative things. Besides, just because someone has other ideas, why should that keep you from creating and doing what you like?

• I don’t know about you, but if someone makes me feel like I can’t achieve something I’ve set out to do, it just makes me more determine and want to prove them wrong. In short, it makes me work harder.

• Hum or think about the Frank Sinatra song, I Did It My Way. It may seem silly, but just keeping in mind that not everyone has the same path and sometimes you have to do things your way helps put things into perspective.

• If someone is constantly unsupportive or constantly making you feel bad, sometimes you just have to cut them out of your life. It may be easier said than done, but remind yourself that you deserve better and to be treated with respect.

However, everyone deals with things differently. So I asked my fellow artist how they deal with non supportive people and here’s how they answered:

• If someone is not supportive of my artistic endeavors, I simply stop sharing my happy art moments and milestones with them. If they aggressively poke at me with things like “So, are you still trying to be an artist?” hoping for an opportunity to undermine my self confidence, I stop associating with them on all things, not just my art. My time and my dreams are too valuable to spend on people who don’t believe in me as much as I believe in myself. The world needs more people supporting each other instead of trying to tear each other apart.

~ Vikki ~
theartofvikki

• Engage with like minded people.Some family and friends can stifle your creative spirit,sometimes wanting to channel you into another direction especially during the teenage years.Find a mentor who will encourage your artistic endeavours.Believe in yourself and enjoy the creative journey.

Jillian

zazzle.com.au/orientcourt

How do you deal with unsupportive people?

It’s rare that I find an art form that I’m not a fan of doing. Photography, painting, jewelry making, you name it, I usually love it. Unfortunately, my dream of making beautiful pottery was shattered when I took a pottery class a few years ago. Man, I don’t know how potters do it, but I found it so frustrating! What am I feeling for? When do I know the clay won’t collapse on itself? Don’t get me wrong, I still love the finish product of pottery. There’s some beautiful stuff out there. However, instead of making it myself, I’ll just buy it from those who love it and do it well.

Another thing that surprised me deals with selling art and other creative endeavors on line. I naively thought that for every holiday and event, my friends and family would purchase from me. Christmas! Birthdays! Insert what ever occasion I need a gift for here!

Don’t get me wrong, my friends and family overall are very supportive. There are other ways to show support besides making purchases, but a big thanks to my mom, sister, aunt and sister in law who have purchased at least one of my products! Big thanks!

So, I guess in short what I’m saying is don’t depend on your friends and family to be your main customer base. Ha ha! I had to learn to market and am surprise by how much marketing and business information a creative person actually has to learn! It’s over whelming sometimes.

I recently asked my fellow artist and creatives “What has been your biggest surprise as an artist/creative?” Here’s how some of them responded:

• Digital painting can be as high quality as traditional painting.

– Marian Cates of Marian Designs Gift Shop (www.zazzle.com/mariancatesdesigns)

• The creative uses that customers find for zazzle products with my designs. I recently heard from a mom who purchased a few different products with my “Honey Bees with Heart” design for a campaign to promote kindness among kids at a local elementary school. It warmed my heart to hear how she was using the products.

-Marieke of presentsoflove.com

So, what has been your biggest surprise as an artist and or creative person?

I decided to try something new here on the blog and am trying out a segment called Question of the Month. The way it will work is that I pose a question to my fellow creatives that deals with an issue that most creatives face and post their answers! Hopefully you will find their answers, perspectives and advice helpful and inspiring. Feel free to leave your comments, advice and input in the comment section.

This month’s question is How Do You Get Out of a Creative Rut?

To me, a creative rut could mean a couple of things:

• Dealing with a period of time where your creative juices just aren’t flowing

• Dealing with a period of time where you are bored with what you are creating because it feels like the same old, same old.

For me personally, I deal with creative ruts in a couple of different ways:

• Getting out of the house. Whether it’s for a walk, shopping or going to a bakery, a change of scenery usually helps give me a new perspective on things.

•  Look to things that you normally wouldn’t look to for inspiration. During my last creative rut, I looked to my sock drawer for inspiration. You can read about some the designs I came up with in the post The Story of…Bears Flying Planes, The Story of…Polar Bear Eating Ice Cream and The Story of…Stripes in Gray.

I asked my fellow creatives for their input and here’s what they had to say:

• When I find myself in a creative rut, I make time to flip through decor magazines, go for a walk with my camera as nature always inspires me and sometimes peruse Pinterest!

-Shelley, Designs by Shell

-SoloCrowd, App maker, http://about.me/solocrowd

• Here are a few ways I beat a creative rut:

– paging through an old sketchbook
– a trip to the art store
– reading a book on any art related topic (I especially like the studio space   concept books!)

-Marieke, www.presentsoflove.com

• For me to beat a creative rut I play in my sketchbook

jafabrit, http://www.redbubble.com/people/jafabrit/shop

• Depending on the type of artist you are

• Commercial artist – Flip through magazines and catalogs for styles, colors, trends and also note advertisements. Look at part of a page or designs as snapshots or vignettes. Single out a part that grabs you, and run with it. If abstract is your goal – architecture and nature will suggest form and colors.

• General art – Take a walk. Cruise through a museum for inspiration. Again, books or magazines are suggested. Look up images from famous artists. Also listen to some music that has good lyrics for creativity, influence, and setting a mood.

• Photography – Focus on small details of a subject. Try shooting during a different time of day than you usually do. Use your eye to crop the image you see, then reshoot. See the beauty from different angles.

• General:

Try a Google image search for various subjects.
See something with simplicity and then give it a twist.
When all else fails, take a break and do something different.
Try to write, draw, paint or take pictures almost every day, even if it’s not your best work.

-alleyshirts, http://www.zazzle.com/alleyshirts

• To beat my creative ruts…I turn to my Endometriosis, Ovarian Cancer and Hysterectomy Sister’s. Their strength, will and determination inspire’s me every time.

Madisyn Nicole, http://www.zazzle.com/madisynnicole

1. Start doing something completely different (like cleaning or cooking)
2. Look through my old image library.
3. Go to a book store and look through book covers.
4. Flea-market, antique store – thrift store.
6. Music.
7. Bicycle ride, walk with camera, gym workout.
8. Go to a place /part of the city where you have not been before, or at least for a long time.
9. put together random objects and take pictures (or sketch).
10. Start putting together a still -life
11. Change odf perspective – If you were making landscapes recently – do closeups, action or sports – still life. Both will benefit in the long run.
12. hit the stores and scout for current trends.
13. If you are aphotographer, try to sketch something, if you are an artist – photograph.
14. Help your kids with a crafts project.

Olga, http://www.zazzle.com/hutsul

When I get stuck in a rut, I take a step or two back and live my life for a day or two with my supportive husband, and inspiring daughter. Sometimes new inspiration is all it takes. from the little things in life like playing with bubbles and my 2 yr old to the big things that are life changing events. Other times just chatting with old fellow creative friends and my family and reminding myself who and what I am, helps me remember what it is I’am supposed to be creating.
~Hannah, Artist and Blogger behind Inspired Me Studio, www.zazzle.com/inspiredmestudio

So how do you beat a creative rut?

As you can see from the picture, the socks I wore on February 3, 2013 were an argyle pattern in black and various shades of grays with a hint of white. Now, I didn’t want to just copy the argyle design. I’ve been wanting to try and make my own plaid patterns for a while and thought this would be the perfect opportunity.

Stripes in Gray Folio Planners by ValeriesGallery

But wait, you say! This pattern obviously isn’t plaid! What happened?

After researching how to make plaids in Illustrator, I decided to give it a go. I made the vertical lines and liked how it looked. So, I decided to continue on and added the horizontal lines which I learned is called the weft. (And who says design can’t be educational?) Unfortunately ,it looked horrible! Although, I can’t quite put my finger on it, I think it’s because there ended up being too much gray for my taste.

However, since I liked how the vertical lines looked before hand, I decided to keep them and have a striped design instead.

Although the plaid didn’t work out this time, I definitely intend to try again in the future. Do you have any tips for making plaids? Feel free to leave it in the comments!

Stripes in Gray is available at Valerie’s Gallery at Zazzle, RedBubble, Skreened and Imagekind.

Gray stripes not your thing?  Then check out these other striped, sock and black and white designs from other talented artist!

<!–Monogram Phone

Chess Tees by Brandless	Happy Birthday Blue Stripes card by Mariana Musa	iPhone 5c Case Pop Art Giant Pandas Black & White by SocolikCardShop
Black and White Pawprint Flip Flops by AugieDoggyStore	Fleur de Lis Thank You Groomsman card by Penny Cork	Emergence – Dramatic Black & White Abstract Design Flask by elfinart
Bold Striped Mosaic by ObservationCreations	Fourth of July, with Fireworks, Stars and Stripes card by Teri Nelson Kuster	Simple Black White Personalized Monogram Initial Flasks by alleyshirts
Monkey with a Sock. Shirt by Animal_Art_By_Ali	A Perfect Match card by Ivy M. Brown	Scarf – Ship Anchor and Helm (black) by bkmuir
Where Is The Zebra? Fridge Magnet by worldofnature	Missing Sock Funny Father’s Day Card by NobleWorks Funny Cards	Black White and Gray Argyle iPhone 5 Case by tjustleft
Pattern zigzags (pink, green, yellow and brown) iPhone 5 covers by Astriddesign	Socks and Sandals Birthday Card by Lisa Crisafi	Moo Cow iPad Cases by Mewmew34
Harlequin Op-Art (Stickers) by IconDoIt	white satin be my bridesmaid card by eugenia bacon	American Flag Freedom Drinking Bottle by HoMeArts
Thank You Socks Card by funnylife	Hands Holding Baby Feet Please be my Godmother Request card by Cherie Haines	Space Cowboy Pillow by geo_barr
As Time goes by… Original Drawing – Watch by PBworks	Mom – Happy Mother’s Day – Alphabet Art card by ABC by Sue	Pink Monogram Chevron Stripe | Apple iPhone 5 Case by Plush_Paper

First up is Abundance Love Trip! Besides having some of the cutest  designs in the world, Valerie is also one of the sweetest people I know! (And both she and her shop have great names to boot! :))

How cute is this wallet! How could you not smile every time you pulled out your wallet?

Sweet Tooth Face Wallet by AbundanceLoveTrip

Squirrel and heart balloons custom jewelry by vintageprintstore

Terns in Flight – A Bird-lovers Scarf by DigitalDreambuilder

Yin Yang Dragons 3 Wrist Watch by fstasu52

Black Panther Big Cat Photography Vinyl Binder by fourseasonsflowers