Find inspiration (whatever that is)

As I write, I see the neighbour's sheets billowing in the wind as they hang on the line to dry. 

I went for an hour-long walk today - nowhere fancy just the usual paths. I didn't listen to music, just the wind in the trees and the birds, footsteps and breath. I felt the coolness in the air, watched over the ferns growing in an old wall and the dappled light filtering down into the old railway path. 

I have been down lately and my foundation, askew. 

So it's time to build the foundation back up, slowly, mindfully. Walking alone in nature is one way I can do this and as autumn approaches yet again, walking is a proven and tested remedy to the extra darkness that will come soon enough. 

I have been hard-pressed to find inspiration (whatever that is) and that makes it harder to create anything. 

So, I am taking creating anything off the table for now. My new goal (thanks to a friend) is to just make marks for a while each day. Inspiration is really a habit and so many of our habits have been challenged. I am no different. So I set a timer for 15 minutes and made marks and enjoyed it enough that I set the timer for another 15 and made more marks and then I went for my walk. And this is how I will return to something that I can depend on. I'll walk and make marks. 

The Abstractionistas have a couple of exhibitions planned for October and November and we are excited. But more on that next week.

For now, make marks, walk, rebuild (again). 

Keep fighting.

The Now and the Memories

One. I'll be pink and you will be too. We will spread out over oceans. We will spread across time. We will isolate together, alone. At first, our boundaries will be defined. People all around us, keeping us warm like insulation. You stay in your group and I will stay in mine. Be safe.

Two. People are rushing all around, there has been a breach. There are other pinks but not exactly like me, and certainly not like you. There is a mad crush, they want to rub shoulders, they want to talk loud, spit flies in the air. I am caught against them, held captive but the walls soothe you. 

Three. We are lost in the sea of bodies, my light is dimming. Less pink all the time. I can't see. 

The memories: Fresh like spring and we are gone. 

Five new works on paper created in August 2020. These works were inspired by life, real and imagined, and the words, 'the loss of physical touch is distancing my soul' written by my friend Rosa Macpherson. 

These are the first finished abstract works I have created since May 19th. 

These mixed media pieces are on 200gsm heavyweight acid-free A3 sized cartridge paper and are available for purchase in my Ko-fi shop.

Shift

This week was better than last and it was a relief. I was able to paint two pieces that I was pleased with and that seemed to connect with viewers.

This is always a good feeling. Suddenly I see possibility before me again and have a sense of freedom. The work I hold back is the work that is wanted. It is time for me release these things again. I know this release comes and goes in stages. These two pieces are the result of this shift.

Gestural and strong, guttural and decisive, that is what the future holds. It was good to come back from being so stuck and frustrated and have these be the last two paintings of the year. I talk about the shift in this week's Tuesday Studio Video Visit. If you missed it on Facebook, here it is again.


Don't forget it you are in and around Edinburgh, I currently have two paintings at The &Gallery at 17 Dundas Street. The group exhibition, Connection is on until December 23rd, so please don't miss it! I also have paintings at the Velvet Easel Gallery in Portobello until February 25th as part of the Winters Edge exhibition. Back stateside, I have pieces on show in the Fenix Group Exhibition at the Chancellor Hotel in Fayetteville, Arkansas until January 9th.

Speaking of Fayetteville, I will be heading back to my hometown this Sunday for several weeks to spend time with my family and friends for the holidays. I plan to keep up my Tuesday Studio Video Visits as well as my Studio blog with a hometown spin. I hope you will enjoy the change of scenery, I know I am looking forward to it!

Until next week, take care and keep fighting. The world needs you and your art. 

Coming down

The opening for Connection was last Saturday, December 2 from 2-4pm at the &Gallery at 17 Dundas Street. It is a lovely exhibition, filled with many heavy hitting pieces of abstraction. I was, of course, delighted to have my work included. The exhibition will remain up until December 23rd so if you are local to Edinburgh or passing through please check it out. If you are not local to the area and want to enjoy the works and artists included in the exhibition you can see it on the gallery's website.

This week in the studio was a washout and there was just no getting around that. It happens. My Tuesday Studio Video Visit alluded to my frustration. It was quite freeing to share how I was feeling and I heard from many artists currently feeling the same way. It always helps to hear that we are not alone and that we are often more similar than we are different. You can catch my video again here if you missed it on Facebook. Thanks to everyone that shared their own burnout and frustration stories with me. It all helps.



Until next week, keep fighting

Time travel etc.

brushes in the studio waiting...

Oops... How did this happen? No Friday post, but here I am on Sunday. This is the first time I have posted on a Sunday, but not the first time I missed my Friday deadline. I looked back at my blog a year ago this week, and what would you know, but I missed Friday then too and made up with a Saturday post. Further proof that at times when I think I am living on some type of loop, I probably am.

So, the basic story is that I am still blocked. I am writing, taking photographs, and spending the "right" amount of time in my studio. I have even painted, but the works are not coming forth- they are remaining submerged under the surface. Bubbling up under my skin, but then retreating when I try to actualize them. I have to be patient. I am not good at waiting. When I am not painting, I worry that I may never paint again- which is completely ridiculous. I think I might forget how; again not possible! Anyway- suffice it to say, when I am not working it messes with my mind, mood, and my overall life. Typical artist type behavior.

When I haven't been working, I am not sure what to share with you all on here, hence the delay. I tried to write about my creative block in my journal, but everything I wrote seemed overly dramatic or too personal to share here.

This is just part of the process, like folks mentioned last week. This will not be the last time I stumble or feel uncomfortable on the creative path. I have to reassure myself that something is building, and when it is time, it will pour out of me and into future paintings.

Thanks to all my readers who check in here, and all my friends who remind me not to be so hard on myself and to be patient. Sometimes, it is the people on the outside who can see so clearly, what we cannot when we are wrapped up inside. I hope the muse finds us all and soon.

Thanks for checking in.