what you don’t know

I told you a story about a cartoonist that would absolutely panic after finishing a cartoon. He would think that there were no more cartoons in him. He had no idea what was next. Well that is what it is like being an artist. You do get this sense of dread at a blank canvas. You don’t want to do the same thing you just did. But it should look similar but not too similar. It has to be fresh but not too fresh. or weird. or ugly or bizarre.

But that is the nature of the beast, you have to die every time you do anything creative. You die and it lives. It is more powerful than you and smarter than you and way way way more creative than you. IT is the process, it is available to anyone who bothers to throw themselves down the stairs and let “IT” go.  If you don’t do this you can do nothing. The biggest thing is remember remember remember, It is not you. You are only doing it. You are just there.

Does this sound hard to get? Well that is because I am talking about “IT” You cant talk about “It” you can only experience it. It is what I wait for all day/ everyday.

I am an artist. and if you call yourself that then you know exactly what I mean.

Papayaart.com

Today I saw a card while I was Christmas shopping that looked so great.  The store keeper was talking about art, and my husband mentioned that I was an artist, so the shopkeeper said “oh, what do you do?”  I showed her my website and she told me I should send my work to papaya.  So I did.

So that is the beginning. After looking at the site I was in love with them and wanted to be doing what they were doing and I got this idea:  “well, just do it.”

So because one thing led to another, who knows what else will happen.  I will keep you posted but in the meantime you should check out their website.  It is pretty amazing.

The pivotal point

Every show has a point where you are painting and painting then you see what the show wants to be. This is the pivotal point. You may have to go back and make the other paintings get into line with the pivotal one/ In fact you should. The pivot is the turning to what makes sense and is yet another layer of growth.

Every show has to be better and better. You cannot just do the same thing over and over. This show I am working on reached the pivot and the pinnacle yesterday, quite unexpectedly. I thought I was doing okay and the show was jiving.  Then I did this one and forget it — everything else must bow down to the one I did yesterday.

Let me tell you what is great about this painting. That I see, right now. It is simple and perfect and big and interesting and simple and one idea and lovely and simple and simple.  The hardest paintings to paint are the simple ones. The lines have to carry the whole thing and they must do it with grace and power. After I finished the painting reclining woman with silver , I knew I had found the secret of the universe in those eyes and that curve of her breast. It was simply perfect. And I Painted it without any awareness of myself.

When you are in that space it is effortless. But and this is a big but. every year and paintstroke was leading to this moment in time. It was leading to his second when she took flight and declared loud and clear. This is your show!

Hanging in the gallery

The Spillover

Every single thing we do spills over into the rest of our day. An argument can spill over into a car wreck later in the day or a wrong calculation in our figuring. Which could lead to a bounced check and a person who got bounced on and they might start bouncing because you bounced them and then they might get distraught and yell at the kids and said kids might smack another kid and then there is this lawsuit….

Or you can start the day out praying for help to be a blessing to someone and then you are and maybe someone was so helped by you that they decide to live and not die. Spillover.

Here is my blessing to you this day. Go forth and think on these things.

photo from this person.

My tiny house studio

I have a studio in a dress shop, How fortunate for me to have a tiny house studio. It is everything I need in about 200 feet. I have a work space and a living room to look at the art in. I have a window that looks into the dress shop. I have water to wash my brushes. I have walls and a table and a couch and lights. I have paint all lined up neatly in the studio. I have everything I need to be anything I want.

What I like most is that people come by and look at what I am doing. I like that. They inspire me. The clothes and the shop inspire me. The owner of the dress shop is an inspiration to me.

I feel compelled to think better thoughts when I am not totally alone. Artists are strange creatures. we need lots of things to function. I need constant stream of ideas and I need someone to say ohhh ahhh when they look at what I have done.

I feel compelled to do something daring and wonderful. and unusual. of course unusual, or why bother. Because of the dress shop I want to do something different for awhile. My advice is do your usual work in a new place and see what happens.

error: Please do not copy.