The Practice of Stoic Philosophy was an unfinished collage I had in my studio for several months. I would put it away, bring it back out, then put it away again. I would sit and stare at this piece but, for some reason, I couldn’t finish it. Everything seemed wrong and immature.

Then I happened to hear the words of Ryan Holiday, who is a writer about Stoic Philosophy. This talk was one about resistance, and what stuck out for me was the topic of perfectionism.  Most of us are guilty of this trait, especially if you are in a creative field. We feel as if we must have everything perfect right out of the gate and if it isn’t then it’s shit. This has always been my struggle within my art practice. The idea that everything must be perfect right away! I was giving into the resistance of perfectionism.

So today I took the advice of (which was targeted towards writers but can be applied to anything) “Just put the sentence down and edit it later. You’ll be so much happier with where it ends up.” So I pulled out this collage, set it down and just allowed myself to be present with the work and not be paralyzed by the idea of perfectionism. Now, this work is finished and I’m happy with where it ended up.

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The Practice of Stoic Philosophy
Collage on Watercolor Paper
18in x 24in – 2024