Creative explorations Vol #31: Studio Visit with Abid Ali
A sketchbook/art journal prompt to support your art and creative practice.
Creative Explorations are themed around a prompt that you can explore in your own art/creative practice over the coming weeks. Prompts will be sent out on the first Friday of every month. I hope this month’s prompt sparks your creativity!
We are doing something very different with this month’s studio visit — instead of meeting an artist, we are going to meet a woodworker, and draw some inspiration from his story in our art and creative practice.
I hope you’ll indulge my wifely pride — it is February, the month of love after all — as I share this studio visit documenting my husband’s work and sharing his story and woodworking philosophy. I hope you find some inspiring ideas from everything that he shares about his journey. I know I did!
You’ll find some suggestions and ideas to explore below. Enjoy!
Watch: Studio visit with Abid Ali
“I come into the workshop and I’ll just pull out a piece of wood. I’m not even thinking [about] what I’m making. I’m just shaping the wood and I’m using a nice tool on it…it has a calming effect.”
ABID ALI
“There is really no such thing as talent…you get behind a process and you do it multiple times…the skill increases. As you get more skilled, some people might look at it and say oh you’re very talented.”
ABID ALI
“Initially your projects are going to be quite sad in comparison to what you wanted to make, but they are always going to be something that you will look back on…they will remind you of what your journey has been.”
ABID ALI
There were a few small a-ha moments, and moments of recognition I had while watching this video. I mean sure, Abid is my husband and we talk about a lot of these things often, but I also know his flaws and shortcomings, so I sometimes don’t give much weight to what he says. 🙈 Seeing his story documented like this creates a certain space, though, and I actually heard what he was saying, y’know?
Notice what strikes you as you watch this video, and then consider how you can pull it into your creative practice.
Here are some of the threads I pulled from Abid…let’s see how we can incorporate them into our creative practice this month.
Ideas + suggestions
Creative rituals (warming up): Abid talks about going into the workshop and just shaping the wood. He has no plan or project, he’s simply enjoying a process. Since I know him well, I can tell you that his process changes — one day he may be shaping wood, another day he may simply plane some wood so it is ready for use in a project at a later date.
This is more than warming up, it’s practicing a skill to the point that it becomes effortless. It’s developing familiarity with your materials to the point that you know exactly how to manipulate them to get a certain effect. This month, consider the ways in which you can practice your process.
With art, many people recommend warming up by painting loose circles or scribbling in a journal, but that isn’t something that has ever appealed to me — it still doesn’t. I like to get into the studio and start painting. The initial layers of my paintings are a form of warming up, but is also where I practice and try new things, experiment with tools and materials, and just see what happens.
Do you have a warm-up practice? If not, how can you incorporate one into your practice in a way that works for you?
The power of practice: There’s no such thing as talent, only skill. There’s such freedom in this idea, isn’t there? We often look at artists or writers or other creatives and think about how talented they are, but behind that talent is hours of work that they’ve put in to build their skills.
So instead of thinking that you aren’t talented enough to be an artist, consider what skills you want to build. Then spend this month learning and practicing said skill. YouTube is a good place to start!
Dabble: The thing I admire about Abid’s journey as a woodworker is that he’s constantly learning new things, even though he’s been doing this since over 35 years. There’s a lot to be said about dabbling with new materials and even different creative threads.
This month, be a beginner. Learn a new material — try watercolors if you always paint with acrylics, or experiment with a different creative practice — try creative writing if you’re primarily a visual artist.
Being a constant learner keeps your mind sharp and combining a variety of creative interests — stitching and painting, or writing and photography for example — helps you create a body of work that’s unique to you.
Further explorations: You can visit Abid’s website, where he showcases some of his projects and his philosophy, and see more of his work on Instagram.
I look forward to seeing your take on this prompt! You can email your finished pieces to me on shinjinim@substack.com. If you prefer to share on Instagram, you can DM or tag me there @moderngypsy.in
Like this prompt? Share it with your friends and invite them into our virtual studio. If you’re on the Substack app, you can tap on the like button or restack to Notes to let me know you enjoyed this post.