The Magic of Making Ugly Shit

Your best work is actually the garbage you're too embarrassed to show anyone.

We’ve been sold this lie that every time we pick up a brush or open a laptop in our drafty studios, we have to produce a masterpiece for the grant committee. It’s exhausting. I spent three weeks staring at a canvas in a small town outside Kenora, terrified that if I made something "bad," it meant I wasn't actually an artist. I was paralyzing myself with the need to be polished before I’d even started. But here’s the thing: perfectionism is just a fancy word for being scared of yourself. It’s a cage that keeps your weirdest, most beautiful ideas locked in the basement.

Last Tuesday, I decided to just break everything. I used colors that vibrated in a way that hurt my eyes. I wrote poems that didn't rhyme and made zero sense. I let myself make a bunch of ugly shit. And honestly? It was the first time I felt alive in months. There’s a specific kind of magic that happens when you stop trying to be "good" and start trying to be honest. When you experiment without an audience in mind, you find the parts of your soul that aren't for sale or for likes. You find the raw, jagged edges that actually make your work human.

In Northern Ontario, we often feel like we have to prove we belong in the "real" art world. We feel this weird pressure to be as slick as the folks in Toronto or Montreal. But our strength isn't in being slick. Our strength is in the grit, the isolation, and the weird, experimental stuff that happens when nobody is watching. We need more small collectives where failure isn't just tolerated, but celebrated. We need spaces where we can show up, fail spectacularly, and then go grab a coffee while laughing about how bad the result was.

Try a tiny exercise today. Give yourself exactly ten minutes to make the absolute worst piece of art you can imagine. Don't think about composition. Don't think about "the brand." Just get messy. Lean into the "Experiment!" mindset. If you aren't making things that make you cringe a little, you probably aren't growing. Growth lives in the friction of doing things you’re bad at. It’s okay to be a beginner at something new, even if you’ve been an "artist" for years.

We need to normalize the "ugly phase." Every great project goes through a moment where it looks like a disaster. If you quit during that phase because you're scared of being "mid," you'll never see the breakthrough on the other side. Resilience isn't about never failing; it's about having the guts to be cringe while you're learning. So go out there and be a disaster. The arts sector in the North will be better for it because it will finally be real.

Northwestern Ontario Arts, Culture and Recreation

Rooted in Melgund Township, Northwestern Ontario we're exploring arts, culture, and recreation programming that brings our communitiess together. From creative workshops and local exhibitions to youth activities and cultural events, we support rural artists, strengthen community connection, and celebrate the creative spirit of Northwestern Ontario.

Through community-based arts initiatives, recreation programming, and cultural gatherings, Melgund Recreation, Arts and Culture fosters creative expression, collaboration, and long-term sustainability in the northern arts sector. Our work connects residents, empowers youth, and builds pride in local talent across rural Northwestern Ontario.

Learn more about our programs, events, and opportunities at Melgund Recreation, Arts and Culture.