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Finish Something…Tomorrow

Since I went on hiatus for the Easter holiday I haven’t been able to start a new project. Here and there I found some time to knit at least. And even that has been hit and miss. I was excited when I bought Arches watercolor paper to try, but I’m looking for the next thing to paint so I can work with it. Nah! Resistance is peeking at me from around the corner, again. A tough cookie, that resistance.

Yesterday I went to my studio just to look at it. I decided to rearrange my desk and worktable, again. Flopping the areas to be a little more Feng Shui this time. I don’t like working with my back to the door, but then I like being able to see out the window too. Having my back to the door felt worse than not seeing outside so I moved my desk. Now if someone is coming toward my space I’m aware. My table is under the window and that felt comfortable. That darn light has been out now for a couple of weeks. Watch when I get someone in to fix it, it will light up! The light and I have a love/hate relationship.

Before, light on

After, light off (darn light)

Something about rearranging the space made me feel good. I know I’ve said it before, but it’s true that cleaning and straightening gets the creativity going. I don’t know why, but it does. So I’m feelilng kind of good about doing some painting again.

I read Week 7 in Walking in This World this week and it made me feel like I was on the right track. The last section in Discovering a Sense of Momentum was entitled Finish Something. Don’t we all have half done things hanging around? At least I do.

Whether it’s photos that need to be in a book, or artwork left undone, there’s always something that needs finishing. The author, Julia Cameron, writes that to keep the creativity flowing we need to finish things we’ve left off.

It can be as mundane as cleaning the medicine cabinet or straightening up a room. She calls it a small pat on the back and a shove forward to moving our creative energy along. Mend the socks. Hang the curtains you bought. Sort your CD collection. Those things half done help us to drag our feet. Finish things and the universe increases our efforts behind our back.

I have been trying to get that studio in order since I carved out that space for myself. Reading this chapter gave me the incentive to keep going. I planned to visit IKEA for some much needed storage for the studio. With the push from rearranging the room the day has come and it’s…tomorrow! Today is just too busy with some other things I need to do. But tomorrow is D-Day and I’m really excited about it.

The chapter ends with this: “Finish something-anything!..It’s an inner order: ‘Now, start something’ finishing something says.” Here I go!

Who Could Paint This Week?

The weather is as horrible today as yesterday. The rain is unrelenting, the sky is gloomy and the wind is starting to pick up. It’s mid-morning and if this is the way the day is going to go I won’t get any errands done. Besides, this week is Holy Week for those of us who are observing the Easter holiday, and it’s not fun in bad weather.

As Greek Orthodox christians, this is the holiest week in our calendar. Many of us observe Holy Week as if we are living it. There are church services each day and all day, if people are interested in attending. Every day is a different service and story leading up to the Passion, and finally, the Resurrection of Christ. It’s great theater if you look at it that way. But between attending services, the dietary rules of fasting, the cleaning, baking, cooking, preparing, it’s a rough week. Who could paint? I’m not sure I will even get to post to this blog this week. We will see.

Beginning the evening of Palm Sunday and through to Tuesday night is the Service of the Bridegroom, from the parable of the Ten Virgins signifying the need to be ready when the “bridegroom” calls for the brides, very symbolic. Holy Monday commermorated the story of Joseph the Patriarch, son of Jacob from the Old Testament. Tonight, Holy Tuesday, the church continues to celebrate the Ten Virgins, but also the Parousia, or the Second Coming, with the subject of spiritual vigilance. My favorite part of the Tuesday service is the Hymn of Kassiani, which the music and lyrics written by this nun are quite beautiful and awe inspiring.

Born around 810AD in Constantinople (Istanbul now), Kassiani had to be one of the earliest artist/feminists in history. Beautiful, wealthy and smart, she spurned the advances of the byzantine emperor Theophilos, who wished to marry her, with some terse words:

He said: Through a woman came the baser things..
She said: And through a woman came the better things..

You know that wasn’t going to go well. Pretty angry, he chose to marry Theodora instead and had Kassiani scourged with a lash and banished to a monstery where she wrote poetry and music to accompany it. She was probably thrilled thinking, Oh great, now I can just go do my art! Seems in those days, besides religious belief, people chose monastic life to pursue their art and were involved in icon painting, illuminating manuscripts, writing liturgical music, and the like. Hey, why not? Think about it, peace and quiet, time to paint, write, whatever, without distraction. Sounds great!

Will I attend services tonight? I’m not sure if I will. There’s a whole week ahead of us. Just thinking of all the things that go into this week kind of makes me want to hole up in a monastery to get some painting done.

Thanks But I Need to Get Off the Computer, NOW

Surprised is not the word, when I checked here the other day and saw that a fellow facebook “friend”, fan, and Etsy shop seller thought enough of my creativity to send me this Sunshine Blog Award. Michele is the purveyor of a shop called By Your Side. Many of us creative types have a shop at Etsy with original art, hand crafts, vintage items, etc.

Getting exposure is not an easy task, but most everyone is involved in the internet in some way, whether it’s facebook, twitter, blogs and the like. Lately, on facebook artisans have been linking to each other’s business and fan pages in the hopes of more exposure to more people with similar interests and the possibility of sales of the various items. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization is the focus. Many of the artisans, but not all, are people at home with children, finding the time in their day to connect with others about their craft, maybe help with the family’s finances. I’ve come in contact with some lovely people of all kinds. Michele was nice enough to pass on this blog award, and in accepting it I now must pass it on to twelve other bloggers, link to their blog, let them know about the link with a comment, and finally share a thank you to the blogger bestowing the award. A daunting task! I’m not the most adept at computer stuff, so it will take a little work and possibly more time than I can spend on it.

It’s fun and all, but I’m trying to get myself motivated for painting and creative pursuits rather than get stuck on the computer trying to figure out how to link to this and that. Could take a fair amount of time that I would prefer to use otherwise. Bad enough I’m in a bit of resistance and now I might be blocked again because I feel bad not to reciprocate. It’s like those chain letters you get in the mail that say, “If you don’t send out 12 copies of this letter something bad will happen in 24 hours! Do not break the chain!” Oh when I see those things I throw them right in the trash. There’s no way I’m falling for that one. Have you ever received the ones that say something about holy prayers being said as the chain letter went out to all the selected people and if you break the chain Holy hellfire will erupt? No, not going there either. Dump that one even faster!

So now a lovely person has added my blog to this award. I’m really grateful, but now instead of getting on this computer, checking email, having my say here and there about art, now I’ve got a job. I’m sorry to say it, but it really becomes a job and I was hoping my job would be to PAINT!

I’m not sure I can do all the linking that’s been asked of me, but I’m happy to link Michele and her facebook fan page. Have some fun, look around at her page and some of the other wonderful creatives there. If I’m free I might try to link up a few more people, but hopefully they’re not like me and feel like this is the chain letter from hell.

Balking and Bagpipe, I’ll Just Go With It

I’m writing this post after having a most unsatisfactory morning. I’ll elaborate some. Since it’s my job to take care of all the household chores, shopping, and meals, (I’m the artist who works at home) I consider it also my job to be concerned with the health of the people who live here. Everyone in every family has certain needs that have to be met and it falls on the person doing the house stuff to handle it, right? I think so. If someone here catches a cold I make the chicken soup. If someone needs more fiber in their diet, I work that out. I do my best.

Now, the hard part is when one family member balks at what I’m offering, and since I am the person with whom the responsibility lies, I am offended by said balking. Catch my drift? Look, we’re not talking babies here, we’re all adults. But from the reaction of one individual I could swear I saw a tantrum happening when I brought out the oatbran cereal rather than a bagel slathered with butter and jelly. Whatever.

As that person went on his way after getting his way, I vented in my morning pages and could have written a fourth page. Thank goodness for morning pages! After I was finished I came to start my day by reading emails and to write this post. I brought a nice hot cup of coffee with me to enjoy, which I promptly knocked over and dumped on the desk and in my lap! Great day ahead, I’ll say.

The bagpipe painting flat on the desk and wet

Having said all that and gotten it off my chest, let me share how the bagpipe painting is coming along. I decided to go for 15 minutes again, ignoring the non-working overhead lamp, and working on the dark background. I don’t like to use a tube of black paint because it’s too flat and has no depth.

It’s easy enough to mix a black with undertones of other colors. I’m still using the MaimieriBlu watercolors, but they don’t offer an Alizarin Crimson which I tend to rely on for some reason. They have some other color that’s similar, but not as deep, so I went for that and mixed with Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Umber. Nice and deep black. I used a large brush full of paint and applied it behind the figure.

After it dried a little bit I went back in with straight color mixing somewhat with the paint already down. As I’ve said before, my training in watercolor is minimal so I’m making it up as I go along. maybe it’s not how the medium is supposed to be used, but that’s the beauty of art and the process. You do what works and make it new and interesting.

The dry bagpipe painting upright on the easel

Later on I’m going to address that white area on the left hand side. When I printed this frame I thought it was an all black background. But looking closely I found that area was where the photo frame ended so I drew it in to break up the space. It’s part of the composition mirroring the large area on the right and I’ll answer that question with color. I naturally break up spaces this way in my work. Something inherent in my brain makes me think in shapes. I’ll go with it as usual.

Yeah, I’ll just go with it. Not like some other people who balk.

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.

Done with the Course, on with the Process

I’ve finally closed the book, so to speak, on The Artist’s Way. I re-read the last chapter, answered the Week 12 questions and the tasks, and did the check-in. It’s been a great motivator and there are things I did during the course that I believe I will continue to do for a long time.

The three pages of free thought journaling every morning will definately stay. It’s been wonderful to write down the stupid things I think I do, how dopey I think I might be, and be done with it. And the artist’s date is a must-do, whether it’s an hour or a whole day thing. Anything I can do to keep the creativity coming.

Just showing up at my desk with no agenda has allowed all kinds of ideas to flow. Once I’m there I start thinking about something and suddenly I find myself painting for hours, where I had no intention to do so.

The Artist’s Way has allowed me to be creative in whatever medium I feel like using at the moment. If I knit I don’t feel guilty that I didn’t paint. I know I’m “doing” anyway. I’m more comfortable knowing it’s the process not the outcome. Show up and do, rather than think about it and don’t.

So the last few days have been a little hectic and I didn’t get to paint. Besides, the light in my studio keeps shutting off for some reason and it’s caused me to avoid the space. I hate sitting at my desk in the middle of something and the light shuts off. I’ll have to get that fixed, but in the meantime I was knitting. I finished another pair of socks for the online shop, worked a pair for a gift, and started another. While I knit I think of colors, shapes, textures, ideas, designs, it’s great. Knitting was a mini artist’s date with myself and the process of creating. It’s a must.

The Studio Spot

While waiting for the new year to come and running around trying to get things done, I’ve had to avoid the studio. Last night I did some knitting on one pair of socks, so at least I’m still slightly in the game. But painting is going to have to wait. I thought I’d give you a little glimpse at my studio space while I’m waiting to get back in it.

For a long time I didn’t have any space except the kitchen table. My father had a nice studio in his basement in our house and I used that space when I was young and living at home. When I got married it was the kitchen table or even the floor of our living room. In my house part of our basement was finished, but it wasn’t really friendly for art so I used the kitchen table for quick things. I would do pastels and clean up before the kids came home from school. When they were babies I didn’t want them around the oils and just left it. Pastels are easier to do with kids around.

Now that I’ve finished the other side of our basement I took over a little corner. One of my sons is a musician on the side and we carved out the bigger area for all his instruments and other stuff. He’s married now, but some stuff is still here. Don’t tell him I said this, but I may creep myself in that space little by little.

I have my drawing table in the corner and I’ve been hanging posters and things that make me feel good around it. I kept the old kitchen table from our apartment, which came from our house when I was little. It’s on the opposite wall from the desk and I love to sit at it. I’ve moved my jewelry stuff there and plan to set up still life arrangements. It’s really cozy to me.

The closet needs to be organized for flat storage and I need a small bookcase for odd tools, books, and other things. IKEA may be the destination for that. Once these holidays are over I’ll be back in that space that’s all mine.

I’m a Slacker!

Yeah, okay, I said I was at the end of The Artist’s Way, but I’m not done with it. Totally, not done with the course in Week 12. How can I be done if I didn’t do the tasks? I’m a slacker! Is there a good reason why I can’t get it together over here, or what? Okay, so I’m in a pouty, stomping my foot mood. Blah. Didn’t do the tasks, didn’t have the artist date, didn’t paint. I did do Morning Pages every day. I fooled around with some beads and made a new bracelet, but that’s not what I wanted to do this week. Now Christmas is coming and I barely did anything about that! I need to make a list, but I already have a list and I can’t stick to it! I’ll end up with a list of lists! I need to take a deep breath, in, hold, and out.

How do you handle it when you have so many things to do and can’t get to any of them? I get one thing done and forget the other. I do the other, and forget the next. I make one necessary phone call and don’t have time for the other call. And then I forget to make the other call all together. This is bad! Am I ever going to be free of these “things” and just spend the day painting? Nah, don’t think so.

I remember my last semester in college when we didn’t need to be in class to paint. We were to have a meeting with the professor once a month for a critique of the work we were doing at home or where ever we were painting. Weeks were passing and I felt like I had all the time in the world. I was doing everything but painting, Daydreaming of painting was more like what I was doing. Thinking about what I wanted to paint while the time passed. What else was I doing? I don’t even know. Other things were happening, I was at home as a commuter student, so–I don’t know! It’s a blank.

Then one day I received a postcard about when the meeting with the professor would take place. It was going to be that week. Yikes! I had nothing! I knew what I was supposed to be working on and decided in a flash to get to it. My prof had previously told me to paint bigger! I tend to paint big in too small a space. Every time I painted bigger he’d say, Paint Bigger! So I got out the roll of canvas I had, kicked it out on the floor of my basement and where it stopped I cut it. I painted and painted, all day and into the night. Five feet high by nine feet long later I was done! Did I say I work well under pressure? Well I do. Doesn’t mean it’s a good thing.

Who could stretch such a big canvas in a small space? I painted it flat, rolled up the damp oil painting, and threw it in my car to take it to my class. Well, the professor was thrilled with my BIG work. Eventually, I painted four more like that. They were color studies and as I went on to each I used the minimum of colors to get the same effect. They were beautiful. But did I have to be shocked into doing what I needed to do? What’s with that? I worked as if someone was chasing me with a lit torch. It’s too stressful and panicky.

I’m trying to avoid that kind of panic in my life. But I don’t think I’m going to change much. Someone once asked me what I was like years ago and what made me think I was going to be much different now? I guess I’m still the same person, but I’d like to think I could change a couple of things, right?