An Art Bucket List: 33 Ways to Explore Your Creativity
Life isn’t really about the destination. It’s about the journey.
We might want to do something not because we have a particular goal in mind, or because we’re hoping to achieve a certain outcome, but simply because we want to experience it. We’re curious about what it might be like, we fancy giving it a go, or we want to see what happens when we try something new.
For me, this is a big part of what making art is all about.
I’ve never had a particular artistic goal in mind. I’m not working towards reaching a certain level, becoming a particular kind of artist or making a name for myself. I simply enjoy doing creative things, and there are so many different things to explore that I’d like to experience as many of them as I can.
I might want to try a new medium, exhibit my work somewhere, collaborate with another artist or find out what it’s like to sell my work at an art fair. I don’t necessarily expect any of these experiences to lead to something bigger. Sometimes, I just want to know what it’s like to do something, and that experience is enough.
Are you a bit like me?
If so, you might be interested in this art bucket list I've started: a collection of things you could try throughout your creative life.
Sharing your art with the world
Share your work online. Being brave enough to show our finished work can be a big step. Being brave enough to share our unfinished work, or our process, can be even scarier! Put something you've made (or are making) on social media or in an online art community. It may not lead to an immediate sale, it may not even result in a like or a comment, but it might plant a seed somewhere.
Show your work in a gallery or exhibition. Is there a local gallery or exhibition you could approach? Try it! Learn how to prepare your work for display, and experience what it's like to see your work on a public wall, viewed and discussed alongside that of other artists.
Sell a piece of work through a gallery or exhibition. Experience what it's like to receive a message informing you that you sold a piece of work. That someone connected with your work enough to want to take it home. You may even get to be the person that manage's the sale!
Complete a commission. Create something for a specific person, responding to their ideas while finding your own way of approaching the project. Carry the privilege of being the person that is entrusted to deliver someone's vision into the world and the pleasure of revealing the final piece.
Host a stall at an art fair. Find out what's involved in displaying work on a stall and absorb ideas from everyone around you. Talking to visitors and learn more about what people look for and what it's like to sell your art in person.
Take part in a community art initiative. Contribute to a collaborative project that brings creativity into a shared space or brings people together. Or perhaps manage the project and use the opportunity to make use of different talents and showcase your artistic ideas.
Create scenery for a show or pantomime. Get involved in the world of theatre and discover how art can help create an atmosphere, tell a story and bring a performance to life. Learn how to work with considerations for creating scenery, including visibility of different parts of the scene, overlap with props and movement and positioning of the actors.
Exploring what your art can become
Make prints of your work. Find out what's involved in making good quality prints of your work and experiment with reproducing an original piece so that it can be enjoyed in a different format.
Turn your art into merchandise. Explore what happens when your work appears on something practical or everyday, rather than on a canvas or sheet of paper. Think about what type of merchandise fits with your individual artwork and values.
Write your artist story or statement. Take some time to reflect on what you make, why you make it and what matters to you about your creative practice.
Collaborate with another artist. Bring your ideas, skills and approaches together and see what emerges when you make something with someone else. Perhaps they will take your work in an unexpected direction that you would have never thought to exlore.
Create a mural. Think beyond the page or canvas and make something that transforms a wall or a shared space. Find out how to scale-up images successfully and the preparations needed to work bigger.
Draw outdoors using limited supplies. Take a sketchbook and a few materials outside, and discover how much you can capture before a subject moves or the light changes. Relish the interest from passers-by - you might find people are much more likely to approach you and find out about your work when you are not hidden behind a studio or gallery well.
Make your own frame for a piece of work. The final part of the process of creating a piece of artwork to sell is often framing - and artists are often not involved in this, and not aware of the possibilities. Learn more about the process and get involved if you can - do a course with a framer, try a bit of woodworking, upcycling or creative problem-solving to find a way to display something you've made.
Create a collection of work. Explore a theme, subject, colour palette or technique across several pieces and see how the work develops when you make it as a series, and how this affects the way you sell it.
Make an artist's book. Think about how you could combine images, words, paper, collage or other materials in your own personal way to create a book that is itself a work of art. Books are precious to the human race and as an artist you have the gifts to make something really special.
Learning and trying something new
Take an online art class. Explore a technique or subject that interests you, whether it's something completely unfamiliar or a way to develop an existing skill. Start a course...and make sure you finish it!
Create an online art class of your own. Share something you've learned or a process you enjoy with other people who might like to try it. Don't overthink it, just film something while you are working on it and your thoughts on how you are approaching it - it may be the inspiration someone needs!
Read a book by an artist. Discover how other artists think about their work, navigate their creative lives or approach the challenges of making art. They might suggst the solution you have been looking for!
Go to a life drawing class. Spend some time drawing from a real person and discover how different it feels from working from a photograph.
Go on an art retreat. Give yourself time away from everyday responsibilities to immerse yourself in making, experiment with materials and enjoy being around other creative people.
Book a one-to-one tutorial with an artist you admire. If you particularly like the work of an artist and they live within travelling distance, contact them and ask if they would be willing to give you some direct tuition.
Do a business course. Find out more about the practical side of being an artist, whether that means selling your work, exhibiting, marketing or developing a creative business.
Bringing creativity into everyday life
Make art using a natural surface, pigment or material. Replace some or all of your usual materials with something natural - leaves, stones, earth pigments, wood, slate or other materials. See what happens when you move beyond conventional art supplies. Does the art last as long? Does it matter?
Upcycle a piece of furniture. Give something old a new lease of life through paint, collage, decoration or a completely different use.
Carry a sketchbook with you and draw your surroundings. Look for opportunities to capture the world around you, whether you're waiting for an appointment, sitting in a café or out on a walk.
Make something using materials you already have. Instead of buying new supplies, challenge yourself to create something from scraps, leftovers or things you might otherwise throw away.
Try an unfamiliar art medium. Have a go at printmaking, collage, watercolour, clay, ink, mixed media or anything else that you haven't done before and that makes you curious. If you are not sure how something was done - learn more about the process and find out!
Connecting your creativity with others
Approach a local business about collaboration. Maybe another independent business might be interested in displaying or stocking your art. Maybe there is a local supplier you could make use of. Maybe a cafe or arts venue is looking for someone to run classes. See how you can connect your art back to your community.
Create a newsletter. Share your work, ideas, creative experiments or behind-the-scenes glimpses with people who want to hear from you. Find a platform that works for you (not the other way round) - look at MailChimp, Substack etc
Create a website. Build a little corner of the internet where you can bring your work together and share it in your own way.
Start a YouTube channel. Share your creative process, demonstrate a technique or document your experiments. You don't need to become an influencer; you can simply explore what it's like to make and share videos.
Host a podcast. Talk about art, creativity or the experiences of making things, either on your own or through conversations with other people.
It's about the experiences, not the achievements
What if you did something simply because you were curious about it? What if you tried making a video without worrying about how many people would watch it, or exhibited your work without feeling that you needed to sell anything? What if you went to an art retreat just to enjoy a few days of making things, rather than expecting to return home with a whole new artistic direction?
Not every experience needs to lead somewhere. You don't have to turn every interest into a skill, every hobby into a business or every creative experiment into something you can show other people.
Sometimes, the experience itself is the point.
So, why not start your own art bucket list? Write down the things you've always wondered about, the activities you've been meaning to try and the creative experiences that sound exciting, even if you can't quite explain why.
You don't have to do them all, and there's no deadline. You can add to your list as you discover new interests and cross things off whenever you feel like it.
After all, a creative life doesn't have to be measured by what you've achieved or what you've produced. It can also be measured by the things you've tried, the people you've met, the materials you've explored and the enjoyment you've found along the way.
What would you put on your art bucket list?
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