We often hear the expression that someone or some thing is a "blank slate". Being a blank slate is viewed as a positive thing, because it means that anything can be written, and that all options are open. When it comes to painting, every canvas is a blank slate--literally and figuratively. And sometimes (maybe always!), stepping up to the blank canvas can be frightening.
Twyla Tharp writes in The Creative Habit about the empty white rehearsal room--the blank space waiting for the dance to be choreographed. She says it symbolizes something "profound, mysterious, and terrifying: the task of starting within nothing and working your way toward creating something whole and beautiful and satisfying." She talks about how hard it can be to get started. No wonder that people can become paralyzed with terror when confronting the blank slate.
As is the case in many things in life, experience and hard work can help overcome the terror of the empty room. Tharp has worked as a choreographer for many years and has a long track record of outstanding dance pieces. Many successes. As a result, she now enters the white room feeling not only trepidation, but also peace and promise. Now that's the attitude we all want when we confront the blank canvas! I doubt I will ever achieve the mastery of a Tywla Tharp, but I hope I can gain the confidence to face the blank slate with her sense of peace and promise.
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