Art-making Mantra #2: Can't Be Too Precious

I spent some time at the art table yesterday and have a few new pieces in the works:

work in progress #1 (10x10 on canvas)

working title: raining hearts

It's an ongoing challenge for me to leave a piece unfinished at the end of a painting session and pick it back up again. Afraid of ruining a good thing, works in progress tend to stay shelved for months before they see the light again. Especially if I like what I have.

work in progress #2 (12x12 on cardboard)

I like the movement in this one, but I'm not sure where to go with it. Irony?

Enter Stephanie's art-making mantra #2: Can't be too precious.

(I credit my abstract painting teacher Beulah McLellan for this one!)

I can't let an unfinished piece become so precious that I won't touch it for fear of losing what I have. I mean, if it's unfinished I have to do something right? It's a matter of trusting the process (art-making mantra #3 perhaps?).

So today I will trust, pick up my two pieces and see what comes.

Wish me luck!

Less Pushing, More Waiting

snow shadows no. 3

“When we know the seasons of things, we can feel their timing, their readiness. There is less pushing, more waiting to see what is necessary.”

~ Wayne Muller, Sabbath, Restoring the Sacred Rhythm of Rest

Last year I rejoiced in creative highs, produced more art than I'd ever produced and let the extrovert in me soar. I felt growing confidence in my artistic abilities, was chest-deep in active pursuit of goals and experiences, and pretty damn proud of myself for achieving them.

It was downright exhilarating.

Wonderful as they were (and they truly were!), these creative pursuits came at a cost of other important life goals of mine that involve nurturing friendships, hearth & home, and my connection to the Spiritual.

So I decided to slow down and soften my grip.

Today, with the exception of one previous commitment, I have no hard set goals in sight. On some days it feels disorienting to my ever project-planning left brain, but one day at a time, I experiment by countering my instinct to continuously strive with intentional pause, choosing to put urgency aside in favour of languid moments of being.

There's a lot less pushing, and lot more waiting to see what is necessary.