If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.
Lewis Carroll
Celebrating the Present Moment and Thinking Ahead
Everyone needs a road map and creatives - myself included - are often very reluctant to take the time to think and to plan. I'm supposed to be in the studio painting, right?? What I'm talking about are the big questions and also the smaller questions. Big questions like, why am I doing this really? What's next? The more every day questions: Paper or canvas? What colors today? What's my inspiration for the next body of work? For the next painting? As we spend our minutes, our hours, our days... so go our lives. There's just so darned little time in each precious life and I want to make the best of the rest of mine.
On the surface, this isn't very cheery... right? But it's the truth. I'm not being pessimistic; just the opposite. I think that knowing you've got limited time on earth - fully acknowledging the impermanence of our situation - makes you more cognizant of the importance of doing what you truly want to do with your life. I've done a lot of thinking about this and adjusting my activities in the last month as a result of contemplating what's essential for me.
When I began painting full time in 2018, it's because that's how I want to spend my time and my days. I've experimented a lot with my artwork, from my familiar watercolors to oils then acrylics. I've scaled up from 6" square watercolor abstracts to making paintings that are 48" x 60" and everything in between. It's been wonderful and frustrating at times and I love it more often than I don't.
So, what am I thinking about this year? There are two really big projects on the horizon for me. The first is a featured artist exhibit at New Elements Gallery in Wilmington, NC in the Fall. I'm so excited about the prospect and can't wait to get to work when I return to my large North Carolina studio. The second is a grant from the North Carolina Arts Council and The Arts Council of Wilmington to produce an experimental body of work on woven substrates (surfaces) this year. I've got a list of materials - canvas, burlap, corrugated cardboard, and screening. My "Artist's Date" with myself this coming week is to a building supply house to see what else I might use as a painting surface. Yes, I know how exciting this sounds, but I can't wait!
I'll be back in Wilmington before April 1st... I'm proud to be part of the upcoming 40th Annual Wilmington Art Association Spring Show and Sale April 2 - April 10. More on this in my next update. In the meantime, enjoy the warmer temperatures and sunnier skies!
Wishing you peace and happiness,
Comments