Growing takes time
One of my sketchbook pages from 2015!
Having come back from vacation on Labour Day and dropping right into school and work routine, I chose to take some time off from the studio.
I took the month of September to play around in my sketchbook, and plan my time for the rest of the year rather than drop right into serious painting.
With a whole lot to process: from our time away in Portugal, with regular life taking over with a vengeance, having time to be slow and deliberate in my creative life seemed like the right decision.
In my off time, I thought about how I did not want to make a whole lot of paintings just to tick off a list, but to actually enjoy my time learning new ways and ideas from experimenting, and then taking my time to make one series well by the end of this year.
Just taking that decision gave me so much breathing space that I really felt the joy of experimenting. Of being playful in my sketchbook or making paintings on paper just because I felt like it.
One of my recent experiments in abstracted still life
My latest experiments is making abstracted still life in acrylic paint in delightful colours that remind me of being inside a picture book. And the vessels that become containers for whatever emotion we can fill them with.
With that goal in mind, I look forward to my time in the studio. And that time consists of experimenting with paint application techniques, practicing drawing shapes and tones of containers and produce, putting colours together till I can capture the emotions I am after in paint.
These sessions remind me every time how complex painting process can be- all the variables we are looking to bring in so they sing together in perfect harmony require conducting to make a satisfying end result.
Only in this case, I am the conductor putting the elements together in balanced harmony, but, I am also all the musicians that make the orchestra- design, composition, colour, drawing skills, artistic nature, emotion: all of these have to spout out of me, the artist, with my sensibilities to make the perfect orchestral painting I can make in that moment of my life with my current capabilities and taste.
With that idea in mind, it becomes imperative on me, the artist to keep on working on their skills and discernment by looking to other artists and their work, and to keep on playing. Without the desire and effort to grow, our orchestra will be playing the same kind of music over time.
Both play and experimenting, along with deliberate learning and practicing are needed along with the spice of motivation to make a growing and thriving artist life, I believe.
My sketchbook experiments with colour
So next time, you come across an artist showing their sketchbook pages or ugly painting efforts on Instagram, you may appreciate that they are trying to grow and get better, more creative and more original over time. They are finding their voice with every sketchbook page they fill.
And if you want to follow my experiments from my studio, you can see them on social media here…
