Vision Board your way to artistic success

Post 11 of Dream, create and make money in the arts – My Series on becoming a Successful Creative

Vision Boards,- why and how to create them.

I have used Vision Boards to dream and then create actionable plans that make sense to my creative vision of the time. I know some people just scrapbook of magazines images of their perfect life, however I prefer to rely on listening to my own creative self as a start point. This is the first of 3 posts on vision boards, the why and the basic how.

Part 2Part 3

When I was thinking about writing, recording and producing my own album, having just written two songs I did a vision board. I painted the large plain poster card gold, red, pink with  green and blue circles in random places. Then after it dried I put the then untitled album in the middle and from this flowed a list of musicians that I’d like to work with, all of which terrified me to even think of asking them, there is a lot of hierachy with jazz musicians. I dropped in sections about mixing somewhere amazing, where to record 8 or 9 band members together, funding, how was I going to write the rest of the songs for the album, how was I to physically manufacture, build, make, create, market it.

And though it terrified me I then used this Vision Board as my base to come back to again and again, to see what I was missing, see where I could dream, where was that list of musicians that terrified me to ask them.. and one by one I rang them up and they all said yes. I found the studio, used the old Abbey Road Studio desk, struggled to get Cubase to work on my Mac, got the musicians all in the same place, ended up editing it in South London, mixing it in Los Angeles, Jerry Leiber from Leiber and Stoller titled it “‘If You Can’t make Love, Make Coffee”,(he wrote the words to such songs as Hound Dog and Stand By Me) to then working out how to produce and sort the album cover out and finally  launching it in London along with some Marysia coffee mugs 😉 Even years later, as I write this I am finishing a dance remix of one of the tunes of it. It all started with the vision board, daring me to dream big and then follow through.

One of my original  tracks ‘Vampire For Your Love’ from my album Live track “Vampire for your love’ off my album

The Marysa Coffee Mug

The Marysia ‘If You Can’t Make Love, Make Coffee’ mug

to buy the mug and album
So ten posts into this series we stand here at the edge of one world & on the tip into the next.Will we jump, dive or inch in as a snail? It’s up to you in your own speed & style but whether a gerbil (rushing at breakneck speed) or giraffe (elegant and stately) the important thing is the step forward.

We have a deadline for an event (if we have been following these posts) and a newly fired up mental attitude .. So now it’s time to actually start envisioning & creating the art.

“Let me just get to my easel for chrissakes or actually write something” I hear you yell. Well do that but do this as well 😉

Wait, breathe, appreciate and honour stepping through the veil from this current world of reality to our dreams so we can get in the zone and dream big visions. This is where your muse can start to fly and wonder where she can fly to, and what areas also need to be lined up to ensure full success.

Supplies needed for Vision Board

Ideally poster board but if not 4 A4 pieces of paper sellotaped together.

Pens and coloured pencils (or just a pen)

(Optional – magazines to tear up. I actually like to do this all by hand and my heart rather than images but I know some people prefer to tear out images as well. In which case you will need glue.    However ensure that if you do do the magazine element you also write at least half of the vision, from your own place of dreaming.)

Optional initial step – before I start  I like to paint the card with watercolours or pencil in areas of the card even though I have zero painting skills. However don’t let this stop you doing it, you can always paint the card first for your next vision board.

 The Stages

This is about dreaming and getting those ideas out there rather than being precious and perfect about a vision board
When I interviewed Liz Ranken , both a noted painter & movement director, RSC Associate Artist with paintings in the National Portrait Gallery she waxed lyrical about affirmations, and a daily prep to get into a place to work, all to get the ego out the way. Podcast interview here
She has experimented & has found her work to be of much better quality when she mentally sheds herself & her ego. She does this daily but at least let’s use some of her wisdom for the vision board

So the first tip on the route to doing a Vision Board is one of Liz Ranken’s I am subverting for our purpose.

1) Spend 10 minutes in silent meditation, chanting or prayer – whatever suits you.
The prayer or determination is ‘to fulfill my creative potential for myself & humanity’

2) Then go for a quick run, walk, jog, skip, bike ride for 10 minutes. (If you can’t do any of these then swing your arms, ankles, move in your wheelchair  – anything that gets you a little breathless & out of your ‘head’

3)Then sit in a quiet uninterrupted place with as big a piece of paper or card as possible – I try to buy A1 card for this but as said any paper s better than none.

Some people like to have instrumental music in the background but I am too easily influenced by the music’s mood and I want to be clear that all my visions come from me in this moment at least.

4) In the middle of the paper write the deadline, the name or central idea of your event or artwork.

5) Then “vision board” all over it aka dream without critiscism, editing or any ‘That’s impossible’
So write around the central points, areas you may want to explore or know you will have to look at as part of the whole event
Subjects that may come up –
Research
Techniques
Colleagues/actors/band members/Teachers/
Help eg technical, admin, video, web
Funding
Event logos & branding
Website/social media
Customers
Suppliers & supplies needed
Venue
Marketing

You will get ideas that are essentially off shoots of the main categories eg
Social Media may have subsections eg Facebook page to set up, get on twitter, LinkedIn relevant groups.

Just jot ideas in 1-2 word forms, this is not essay time but dump ideas, words, thoughts down on paper.

If you are just entering one painting or photograph for a competition then you might think why bother but just let lose & see what comes up as additional inspiration through the process.
This works whether it is a film, cabaret show, painting exhibition or
But rather than worry regarding all the details now just dump them all in short form on your vision board.

See you tomorrow for using the Vision Board to it’s best advantage.

About this series – Being a Successful Creative – The Business of Creativity
This is a series of daily blogs for you on how to dream up, build, market and sell a creative event, gig, festival, book launch, cabaret night, exhibition of rude plastic cupcakes or whatever creatively inspires you. It is time to create and put on that play about your family, a series of drawings about hedgehogs, the album you have talked about making or the short film you always wanted to write and make.