It requires bravery to be an artist.
One of the things I’ve always struggled with (though it’s gotten a bit better over the years) is giving creative work the time it needs to resolve. It’s a bit easier with software and to a degree with writing, but drawing and painting I find much more challenging. I think part of my struggle is my impulsive/impetuous nature, part is conditioning and part cultural expectations. Proactivity and pragmatism are generally rewarded in American culture and are obviously useful traits navigating “concrete” existence. However, making a work of art is a far less concrete activity; we can make it more so by focusing on aspects of craft/technique, production, schedules, exhibitions, price lists, reviews, but none of these things really has much to do with the creative process, which is far less rationally determined and logical. Navigating this tension–between the concrete and abstract–of course impacts many other aspects of life, but for me it is most concentrated and dramatic in my studio; it always has been.
I am most brave when, in spite of some good sense, nurturing and perhaps my nature, I forge patiently ahead in my studio.