There Is No Arrival: Creative Practice as Reaching

What if we stopped thinking of creativity as a path to a specific destination?

Sure, we may set goals - short-term and long-term. We may work toward shows, toward completed pieces, toward moments of recognition or resolution. But the practice itself? The creative process? It resists arrival.

It’s a space where we let go of control - not all of it, but just enough to stay open to surprise. It’s not about landing exactly where we expect. In fact, it rarely happens that way. And if it does, we often wonder if we played it too safe.

Surprise is often where creativity comes alive. Something unplanned emerges - something not fully imagined at the start. That’s part of the draw: the moment when what ends up on the table becomes taller than what was brought to it

. The materials respond, shift, and push back, revealing possibilities that weren’t visible at the outset.

A creative practice, especially one rooted in exploration, becomes a kind of reaching. Reaching outward into the unknown. Reaching back to rework something that still holds a charge. Reaching forward toward what’s not yet visible or nameable. That reaching is the practice.

In a conversation with other artists recently, the idea was shared that none of us are working toward a single “perfect” piece. There’s no ultimate canvas, no final collage that will answer everything. We’re not doing this to eventually solve it all. We’re doing this because it gives us a way to stay in conversation - with materials, with ourselves, with the world - over time. 

Supported Studios are deeply attuned to this. Artists in these spaces often create without fixating on “product” or “perfection.” Instead, the practice is upheld for its own sake - for the discovery it invites, the shifts it demands, and the relationships it nurtures.

It’s not about finding the right piece. It’s about finding new ways to keep reaching.