Category: Artist’s Way

The Finish Line, or Not

I spent the weekend in reflection. January 31 was my first post to the 100 Paintings Challenge. A year ago I found out I could paint finished work in twenty minutes and I would post my paintings to the Twenty Minute Challenge. That’s where I found out about 100 Paintings.

Well, I will not make it to the required 100 pieces of art in this year. There is always next year to try my best. What else can I say? As of today I painted 56 watercolor paintings, with a few pen and ink drawings thrown in that mix to keep at it.

In my opinion, I accomplished plenty. As I said in another post, I am good for another go. See what happens this time.

Yesterday I went into the studio to survey my space. What is it that keeps me from doing better work there than at the dining room table? For one thing, the dining room table is lower than my drawing board allowing me to stand while I paint. I can move around, look at my work from a distance, keep some energy going. The drawing board is high and I can’t get away from it. Need to change it.

The dining room table has great north facing light, the studio is in the basement. Can’t do much about that, but make sure I have good light in the studio.

Most paintings took twenty minutes or so to complete. The larger works took a couple of days of work, and then I was a slacker some days. And I was working in the dining room because I needed to be near my granddaughter while she napped. A year later she’s not napping much, so there goes that.

Then I was also battling with Mr. Resistance. It’s been easier to beat the demon after all the work I’ve been doing since the Artist’s Way, Alyson Stanfield’s book and workshops, and my own lazy brain.

So I will forgive myself for not painting the requisite 100 works. It’s okay. I’m not looking to excuse myself because I did agree to the challenge, just didn’t pass the finish line on time.

We are all a work in progress. The Blast Off class I am taking online with Alyson is a huge help and I am working on my curriculum for the year ahead.

Painting will be regularly scheduled on the calendar of to-do list items at #1.
Reading artists bios, looking into documentaries of artists and museum visits is on the item list.

I’m already reading this great biography of Vincent van Gogh and it’s been very interesting to learn how he came to paint.

And there’s been knitting. Knitting socks at that. While I knit I daydream as I watch the stitches or color fly by on my needles. As I watch my brain is planning the next painting.

Not a bad start to another year of paintings. Wish me luck, again!

Got it Together? Check!

There’s not enough time to do everything I have on my to-do list and the day is not over yet. The workshop weekend is here and what I need to bring is ready. Item by item, I crossed things off my list. I have not been sleeping well, waking at 4:30A.M. every morning, wide eyed and thinking. It’s not the workshop, just a sleep cycle changing I guess.

I had my usual Friday of things and there is no way I can paint today. I had the fleeting thought I could play with some beads and cord, but decided there is just no time after my busy morning. After lunch I went back to review what I need for the weekend. Good thing I don’t have to pack clothes and get on a plane, I’d be dizzy.

Portfolio? Check. Artist statement? Check. Directions? Check. GPS in the car? Check. My brain? Oops!

Alyson the Art Biz Coach, who is leading the workshop, commented on my post to bring only new, up to date work. That’s what I thought, too. What it is that I am working on now rather than three years ago, makes sense.

Taking this workshop at this time is the next step. Everything I’ve been doing the last few years has led me here. I am thankful to have taken the big step to blogging, facebook and twitter, or I would have to get up to speed with it. I found the Twenty Minute Challenge, and the 100 Paintings Challenge, two great sites that help me build a new body of work and try to find an art habit. Reading the Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron, allowed me to tap into that inner child artist, try to fight off resistance, and rediscover the artist voice. Step by small step.

Friends always said I should have an art show. I always answered that I needed a body of work to show. Yes, college work was great, but people want to see today, not all those many years ago. And anyway, that’s not who I am now. Even work from a couple of years back is not me today.

Yesterday I realized I have been blogging since September 16, 2009, and I could not believe it’s been that long ago that I got my feet wet here. Who I was then, what kind of art I was making, if at all, compared to today, is like another person, but the same person. Just more awake, aware, in tune.

The rest of my day is not over. I have a kids dance class to teach tonight. After that let’s hope I sleep.

Knock Knock! Who’s There? Oh, it’s You..Again

Where have I been this past week?  Right here, at home, visiting with Resistance.  Yeah, it hit me again, that lousy Resistance, with a capital R.  Sometimes things go a little off track and lands me smack in the blahs of creativity.  Meaning no creativity.  Meaning resistance mode.

What’s an artist to do?  Well, first I decided to lay off bugging and nagging my inner artist.  I gave in to resistance and took a nap.  Maybe it was well deserved.  Feeling off is not going to help anything, but dropping out of it can.  So I did.  That’s all I could do on Day 1 visit with Resistance.

To back up a bit: I ran out of paper in the travel watercolor pad I was using.  Bad move #1- I didn’t shop for another pad.  I still have paper, but it’s larger.  So, I decided to just use the larger paper for the next work.  I set up a small still life of the usual items and added some interesting agate stones I have for my jewelry making.  Maybe they were too interesting?  Make that Bad move #2.

As I was free from babysitting one day this week, which is another story I will have to tell another day, I sat down to paint this set up.  Remember, bigger paper.  I began to sketch in the objects with paint, no pencil drawing.  I had hoped to do twenty minutes.  Bad move #3-20 minutes on big paper with interesting items that had detail, lots of detail.

How did it come out?  Disaster.  Knock-knock, Resistance at the door!  Hi, how have you been?  Come on in!  It’s been such a long time!

The next day I took that nap.  The day after that I pushed myself outside to take some photos of the Japanese maple tree with it’s bright red leaves.  I wanted to post them, but Resistance wouldn’t let me saying we should have a coffee together.  So I had coffee in my ‘dream corner’ of the living room and looked out the window at the back garden.  Resistance told me to just leave that horrible painting on the dining room table where I started it.  Sure, look at it every time I pass through to the kitchen, why not?

The following day I ran my errands and totally ignored the painting and anything to do with it.

Do you know how hard it is to fight the soothing call of Resistance?  I must say I’ve been lucky these last few months.  Keeping resistance at bay was a breeze.  It was smooth sailing for a while, plugging into creativity, staying in the mode with 20 minutes at a time, happy with the process and feeling good about the outcome of it.  Nice work.  I guess a visit with Resistance was inevitable sooner or later.

What did I do after all that?  I knit.  After I knit, I am going to ditch that painting.

Just a Wild and Crazy Me

Figure, cropped, charcoal on newsprint (c)1976 DST

Who doesn’t worry?  Who doesn’t feel fear?  Is there anyone who doesn’t feel panic once in a while?  Or is it just me?
I’m chugging away reading Walking in This World from the Artist’s Way series of courses on creative blocks.  Week 9- Discovering a Sense of Resiliency, talks about creative people being prone to apprehension and skittishness.  Panic is described as an escalating sense of terror that floods and immobilizes by the ‘glare of change’ as, “How am I going to get there?”  Worry is unfocused anxiety that distracts us from a real fear.  Fear, they go on to say, is not obsessive like worry or escalating like panic, but is reality based and is our ally.
As far as we creative people are concerned, the more active and negative our imagination is, the more creative energy we have.  Well I’ll be darned!  If I knew that I guess I would’ve felt better about being a panicky, worry wart, fearful, superstitious neurotic!  
“Fearful and neurotic people are those with the best imaginations. Worry is the imagination’s negative stepsister.”

Oh gee, I’m so happy to know that!   So when my mind is racing and talking to me from every where blabbing it’s big mouth, my creative juices are actually working?  What a relief!  I thought I was just crazy!

The writing of Morning Pages should work to rid us of negative energy and talk because it siphons off the worry at the start of the day.  In the pages I can name, claim, and dump most of my negative talk, anger, fear about all sorts of things and people.  Dump the stuff in the page, close the book and walk away.    Nausea, asthma attacks, stomach upset are all from worry and we need to recognize it as misplaced creative energy.  Is it possible this book right?  Wow, who knew?

Fear is scary, we think, but what we fail to see is that fear is positive.  “Fear is a blip on the radar screen.”  The author suggest we give Fear a pet name.  Ok, now what kind of name can I give my little side-kick?  I’ll have to think about that. 

Fears are base on inaccurate info.  When fear kicks in we are supposed to reach for action.  Fear is sending a signal, but what’s the signal mean?  Do I need Morse Code to figure it out?  How about when you’re in the middle of a full blown panic?  Tell me I can think of what the signal is while I’m waiting for my racing heart to slow down. 

I don’t know, but I’m writing it all down in the Pages every morning like clock work.  Well, now I feel really good knowing that all my craziness was just me being such a wildly creative artist! (Hand over mouth, laughing out loud!)

On to Walking in This World

Since I finished reading The Artist’s Way I decided to take the next steps in the series.  In the first book the author Julia Cameron, suggests taking a mind clearing walk every day.  I didn’t get there.  I was able to take a walk a couple of times in the fall and really enjoyed being outside in that kind of weather, taking in the autumn flowers, leaves and fresh air.  But after that the weather turned colder and I didn’t have the urge to go outside.
As a push to continue the creativity quest, I ordered and received two more books, Walking in This World and The Vein of Gold.  I read the first chapter of the first, I’m leaving the latter for afterwards.  The ideas are the same:  Morning Pages every day for 3 pages in long hand, a weekly Artist Date and daily mini date, and a weekly long walk.  Ok, well, we’ll see how that goes. 
I’ve been very consistent with Morning Pages. I write very early in a marble notebook with a MontBlanc pen/pencil set my father gave me so many years ago I can’t remember.  Using that pen elevates the writing time to an event.  I eat, read my news, have more coffee, zip open the pen set and get to writing.
The pages have become my conversation with the Universe, the emptying out of stupid stuff in my head. Sometimes I’ve said it all in the Morning Pages and I have nothing left for this blog!  It’s good because I can get to the art quickly rather than ruminate on it.  The Artist Date has become small pockets of fun time instead of all day, full blown dates.  I went to the art supply store, the yarn shop, poked around a thrift shop, doodled in my sketch pad, just little fun things. 
Walking outside and walking on a treadmill are two totally different experiences.  When I walked my treadmill I had a large travel calendar in front of me for a distraction.  I  imagined myself in another country on vacation, but then I would be sad I wasn’t really on vacation.  And the idea of gerbils running on a wheel came into my head one day and I was turned off.  When you walk outdoors you can see other people, different houses and gardens, stores, alive stuff. 
Now it’s time to do the walking part of this course, but it’s still freezing outside! I’m going to have to figure this one out. 

It Starts Again Tomorrow

My Sunday was really quiet this week.  Even though I was all alone, my family was out of the house, I didn’t get much done. 
I wanted to fool around with the new watercolor I started, but I didn’t.  I thought I might look at my jewelry supplies and maybe put a few stones and beads together like I did a couple days ago, but I didn’t.  I’m not going to beat myself up about it either.
Sometimes it’s healthy to do absolutely nothing.  I know I need down time.  Time to let my brain take a break from thinking about things.  Even though I’m writing the Artist’s Way Morning Pages every day to get the excess brain junk out, I still need that extra do-nothing time.  I don’t know why. 

I’m not saying I sat in a chair and looked at the wall all day long.  Lately I’ve been reading a really good book and I just had to get to the end.  When I picked it up yesterday I just had to keep reading.  While I was reading I had a banana bread baking in the oven that I assembled before I picked up the book.  The warmth of my kitchen along with the great smell of a tasty quick bread in the oven made a cozy feeling in my house.  While I waited I read my book and had some coffee.  The house was quiet with the others out for the day doing their own thing.  It was a great day and it felt good not to “work”. 
Tomorrow is another day.