Agnes Martin, known for her iconic grid paintings and her influence on early Minimalism, would sit in her chair—sometimes for hours—until she was able to “stop thinking”. Though it feels like sitting idle for hours is near impossible in today’s information age, being disciplined about creating vast stretches of uninterrupted time was essential for Martin to “court” inspiration rather than simply wait for it to show up.

“To be an artist, you look, you perceive, you recognize what is going through your mind. And it is not ‘ideas’. Everything you feel and everything you see (...) your whole life goes through your mind, you know.”

Here are 3 of her rituals that stood out to us:

Simplify your daily habits
She tried to simplify her daily habits as much as possible. She wore a daily uniform—Bibb coveralls either with a long or short-sleeved insulated t-shirt.

Unclutter your environment
Uncluttering her external environment was as important as uncluttering her internal environment. Her studio was carefully arranged in order to create “the proper physical conditions for her inspiration to flourish”.

Stare at your work
She would sit for endless hours in a rocking chair and stare at her work while tuning into her creative energy through the meditative back and forth movement.