The importance of following your passion in creativity

I was first inspired to paint at a very young age, when I saw Vincent van Gogh's Terrace at night. It transported me to a magical place, I felt a wave of emotion of serenity and vitality. At the time I was going through a challenging childhood, having spent a few years in foster care then being homed with my dad, it was an uncertain time. I grew up in a loving and supportive family, however in my younger years I felt abandoned and misunderstood.

Throughout my teen years and early adulthood I continued to paint. It made me feel alive, and was a route to express what couldn’t be said with words.

“If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.” Edward Hopper

In early adulthood, when it came to choosing a university course, I knew I wanted to develop my creativity, but was also conscious about creating a stable career, a livelihood. So I chose textile design, as I thought this was a more guaranteed route to a stable job. After graduating, in fact I found the expectation of unpaid work experience within the industry a real barrier, as I was not from a wealthy background that could support this.

“Creativity takes courage.” Henri Matisse

I spent years working in retail, then IT, practising my design on the side. Then, after many years of trying to divert my career into design, I’d had enough of the setbacks and disappointments. I stopped creating all together, as it became a source of frustrations and let downs. At the age of 30 I decided to go back to my original love painting, as without creativity at all I became depressed. So I made a decision to do it for the love of it, and to let go of any expectations.

To my surprise this is when my creative career started to blossom, I had requests for commissions, sales, and gallery shows. This all happened organically by sharing my art on social media. Something I never thought was possible, it was a dream come true. Art sells when it connects to people and I now realise that by following your authentic path, for me this was painting, you will gain success. 

Another turning point for me was reading The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, it’s a book full of guidance on finding your artistic voice, and understanding the common blocks that hold us back from expressing who we are. It resonated with the part of me that was desperate to break free of my limiting beliefs to really express myself.

Now I paint nature inspired artwork that is uplifting, colourful and speaks to our connection with the earth. The reason I paint is that I love the process of layering colours, and creating texture with oil paints. I find oil paint the best medium for me to create a feeling of joy, intrigue, and connection. 

To inform your choice of medium, subject and style of art you need to dig deep to work out why you’re creating in the first place. I journal every morning to tap into my authentic voice, it’s like a form of meditation for me, to get clear on what I’m doing next and new possibilities from my art. I also find keeping a visual journal in a sketchbook helpful to ask questions like why do I like this painting, what part of it is resonating with me, and how have they created this feeling. 

“If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.” Marc Chagall

The physiological benefits of creativity are now well known, it gives you a space to turn down the volume on the chattering mind, and improves mental resilience and problem solving. As well as the pleasure from the physical activity of painting, I enjoy the intellectual side that comes from creativity, researching an idea, trying to convey a feeling and concept means I have a never ending challenge of developing my art.

“Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.” – Jackson Pollock

If you’re an artist or creative struggling to find your way, I understand how overwhelming it can be, and the opinions of others can spin your head to the point of doing nothing with your creative spark. I run a membership called Kick Start Art that supports your creative journey with live workshops, an interactive forum and Q&As. To sign up to Kick Start Art, visit my subscription page: https://ruthegon.com/pages/kick-start-art 

Ruth Egon

My artistic values lead the direction of my work

• Create breath-taking beauty inspired by nature
• Use colour and pattern that uplifts, is playful and joyful
• I combine quirky ideas, mixing representational and abstract styles
• A slower more considered (but intuitive) process of painting suits my preferred way of creating
• I'm passionate about encouraging everyone to create. I like to build confidence in less experienced artists and break down elitist ideas about entering the world of art
• I get inspired by walking in nature and different cultures to find new colour-ways and motifs
• Mental health is a subject close to my heart. As a young person, I felt left out of 'normal' society having a single dad raise me. I now embrace weird, strange and different things, and help others do the same.