Month: August 2012

Lost Motivation and Finding a Way Around Resistance

Over the weekend I read a post somewhere online about fighting with Resistance.

Yes, my favorite topic.

The writer, whom I can’t remember so I apologize, wrote something like “When you are in pain, make great art. You have no money, make great art. You lost your best friend, make great art.” Sounds like a plan. Right?

Okay. It’s time to revisit a book about the subject, The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield.

Before I continue I need to share. Today I attended church services for a favorite saint, St. Phanourios. People pray to him for help in finding lost things. To return the favor and thank him for his help, parishioners bring a special baked cake to share with everyone after the service.

Original icon of St. Phanourios of Rhodes
©OrthodoxWiki

I can’t find plenty of things throughout the year, so I baked the cake, grateful for the saint’s help. But right now I need to ask him to help me find a way to avoid Resistance.

Nothing helps me better than reading a good book about a topic, so with the urge I took for a nudge from St. Phanourios, I opened The War of Art and started to read it.

Again.

The author lists things that bring up Resistance, like any diet or health regimen, any calling, education of any kind, any kind of courage, any enterprise, etc. Pressfield describes Resistance and it’s characteristics with short, pithy paragraphs, with biting titles.

This one stuck with me as I read:

 Resistance is Insidious 

“Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work. It will perjure, fabricate, falsify; seduce, bully, cajole. resistance is protean. It will assume any form, if that’s what it takes to deceive you, it will reason with you like a lawyer or jam a nine-millimeter in your face like a stickup man. Resistance has no conscience. It will pledge anything to get a realm then double-cross you as soon as your back is turned. If you take Resistance at it’s word, you deserve everything you get. resistance is always lying and always full of crap.” pg. 9

 Ooph! I felt that kick in the butt. Thank you, St. Phanourios. It could be just what I was looking for.

Just Butterflies

As I was writing the Morning Pages in my backyard garden, trying to figure out why inspiration has been fleeting this summer, I noticed a lot of things flying around. Hoping they weren’t some scary buzzing things, I sneaked a peek at the shadows.
What do you think? More than six butterflies were fluttering around my garden and on the butterfly bush. Yes, I guess the name of the flowering thing fits. They were all over it.
I grabbed my camera, and tried to get close not to disturb them, so I could take some shots. It was hard to show just how many of them there were between the foliage and the sunlight. 

It was early in the morning, my favorite time of day. Quiet, with the sun sending out it’s rays and warming the air, glistening the moisture on the flowers. 
No kids yelling, no lawn mowers, no construction guys, garbage men. Just butterflies. 
Perfect.

If Monet Could do it, I Can Too, Sort of

Is it me or is the summer over already? Resistance has a way of leading you down a road, and leaving you there all by yourself to figure things out. He has a way of being cruel like that. 

And now August is near it’s end. What do we have to show for it? A tan? A couple of half hearted attempts at attaining the 100 paintings we’re supposed to be working on over here? 
Nuts, I say. Rats to that. 
So in the meanwhile, while I try to pull my artist self out of the rabbit hole, I painted this small marigold photo I had in my stash. Yes, I’ve painted this before much larger, but, whatever, there it is, again.

Small Marigold ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
9×12 Watercolor Arches cold press paper

If Monet could paint a scene over and over again, so can I. And I’m sticking to that.

Where’s the Inspiration When You Need it?

Little did I know how much painting inspiration I was going to get out of that vegetable share I did last year. Why didn’t I think of it as an investment in my artwork this season? What was I thinking when I decided not to bother doing it again, only because I wasn’t thrilled with the selection of the produce, for eating anyway?

Every week I dragged myself across Long Island to pick up my haul and dreaded what kind of crazy leafy greens I would find, only to get so excited by all the shapes and color that I photographed everything. And then I created artwork of it all. All my complaining about painting from life rather than my photos, were dashed with the veggie awakening. 
Rooftop Scene ©2012 Dora Sislian Themelis
9×12 Watercolor, Arches cold press paper
Now look at me! I can’t find anything to get excited about painting. Okay, a landscape here and there, flowers in the garden, but nothing like last summer’s work.

What a drag.

So here I am, painting this and that, and making more jewelry. It’s fine. I’ve made a commitment to a one night shopping venue the first week of September so I may as well add to my inventory.

Greek and Turkish beads with waxed cotton cord

Greek and Turkish beads with waxed cotton cord

Long bead bracelet on the wrist

The colors and shapes are interesting. I’m trying to put a positive spin on my trysts with Mr. Resistance. Not so sure it’s working for me. 

Show Up, Shut Up, and Work

Sometimes when the going gets tough, the “tough” shut down. There are so many excuses why one doesn’t get to work and I think I’ve pretty much used them all. It’s a dilemma.

Resistance is difficult. Anything, and everything, can block the path to working.

Let’s be on the up and up, okay? Those of us working from home have it much worse than those punching a clock at an office. There is no one to be accountable to, other than your’s truly over here.

We get the things done that need to get done. At an office, the work comes first, the house is left for some time later. At home, the house gets done first, and hopefully there has been a schedule in place for work. Does that happen? It should, but often times it doesn’t.

Who’s the boss of me?

But, hey, you need a pay check right? So get to work! Knock it off at the coffee machine and stop hanging around with that idiot, Mr. Resistance.

While I was trying not to waste time looking for the next painting subject in the studio, I wandered off to more beads. This bracelet is made of knotted Greek leather cord with more Greek Mykonos beads and Turkish glass.

Greek Mykonos beads, Turkish beads, Greek leather cord

After finishing the bracelet I tried, once again, to find a painting subject and leafed through a few travel books. I didn’t want to spend too much time so I settled on this scene. I liked the colors and the depth. At least if I move paint around I might be able to push away some resistance.

Something new to paint/sketch..

For now, it will do. The “boss” might be happy I showed up to work at all and won’t fire me.