For many years I cruised through December without a thought to the previous year or what the upcoming new year might hold. In fact, I used to make fun of my husband with his lists and retrospectives and plans.
As November slips away, the insane month of December rears its head. Insane because everyone seems to be stressed out trying to cram as much buying and selling and making and baking, as much visiting and eating and event attending as possible before the 24th.
Who doesn't love a good list? I'm a sucker for'em, happily clicking that link KNOWING it's clickbait... but but but, it's a L I S T!
Last week on Instagram I mentioned in my stories how one of the pieces I'm working on for an upcoming show was kicking my ass. I've just put the final touches on it and thought it would be a good reminder to me, and, hopefully inspirational to you, on how sometimes Starting Over is the only true option. And that's okay!
Do you have regular "Go Tos" when your work is ALMOST finished but still needs that 'sumthin sumthin'?
Back in May I started the Get Messy May journaling challenge and while I didn't get very far in that challenge, I did do Kellee Wynne's grid journal class. I was smitten! And I've been making them ever since.
I've been thinking a lot lately about how being an artist requires constant bravery and courage. Not the 'ATTACK!!!' kind but the 'reinvention of self' kind. We are constantly forging new paths, acquiring new skills, honing a critical eye to new-to-us genres, mediums, subject matter. It's a GRIND!
As mentioned in my last post, I've been enjoying making small collages in my small journal.
Limited parameters help my brain SO. MUCH. during my creative process, be it subject matter, materials, colour palette, series of 3 or 5 or 7, I pretty much always limit my options in some way.
Something I've been doing lately in my art practice is make small things: paintings, theraupeutic doodles, collages. I purchased 4 - 4"x6" art journals which may or may not have something to do with this. I love their size and portability. But it is the collages that are really floating my boat at the moment.
Recently I've been embarking on a deep dive into abstract expressionism — intuitive painting — slapping paint on the canvas. And in every piece I've created so far, I come to point where I suddenly realize I'm using a very small brush trying desperately to preserve sections I'm already in love with, already conceptualizing the end product, and in every single case, I am less than halfway finished.
Once all the work was safely packed and headed to the show Revising History I breathed a sigh of relief all the while thinking, "So. What's next?!?" Because the reality of Life as an Artist is we are only as good (or as bad) as our NEXT piece. Today's work. I hauled out the gelli plate because making a whack of prints is ALWAYS a Good Idea. Until it isn't.
Gah. My brain was overflowing, hemorrhaging, last night as I tried to process all the information that had been thrown at me. So I pushed today's lesson to Noon and continued working on my show pieces while I thought about "Design".
I've been craving a new direction for a while now and the advent of Nicholas Wilton's Free Workshop came along at just the right time. Winding down from creating work (that I started last Fall) for an April show, I noticed some abstract painting sneaking in. Something I'm really ready to explore.
