Sprials Swirling Through

A lot of people write to me about feeling stuck with their artwork. They can't get themselves out to the studio, they never have enough time, or all they create comes out ugly.

Well, we have all had those ugly periods, and I believe that they are vital to artistic growth. Lee Krasner went through grey period...everything she did came out in greys. Before I even really worked with colors, I worked in black and white for 20 years. I loved to sketch, I loved to work with contrasts and values with a pencil and white paper. In my opinion, that is how I learned about color...through black and white.

I totally understand about procrastination with regards to getting out to the studio. The studio, which is wherever you create, can be daunting. It is the place where we come face to face with ourselves each time. We look into the proverbial mirror and even if we are painting a landscape, there is something within that painting that contains something about ourselves that we are trying to express to the world. A painting is never just a painting...Art is the most ancient form of communication, and because of art, we can learn from the Ancient Ones that once lived in the same locations we live now. When we paint, or sculpt or create digital art, we are exposing something about our lives or our souls to the world.

Picasso had a very difficult time getting out to the studio. He learned to create excuses to get himself out there. His studio was VERY messy to say the least, so sometimes he would make the excuse that he was going out to the studio to clean it or to clean his brushes. Once he got out there, he would see his paintings and immediately get to work.

I hear a lot of people saying, "I just don't have the time." I know that one very well, because I used to use it all the time. A friend of mine told me to work ten minutes each day and see what happened. I committed to those ten minutes, and as time went by it grew and grew to where it is now my profession! I challenge you to work for ten minutes a day on something of your own...just ten minutes, and see where it takes you.

This past week has been very difficult for me. A friendship came to an end, and this can be the worst time to work on an existing painting. Of course I did, and I turned this beautiful work of a baby deer into a baby deer that looks like it wants to eat humans. If you are upset, pull out an entirely new piece of paper or canvas, and let your emotions out on that....not always a good idea to unleash painful emotions upon a work in progress. However, you never know...it may help.

I was so locked up inside that I couldn't break free. When I get like this, I often do a painting that is simply for me, nobody else, and is my way of breaking loose. It usually is of absolutely no subject matter and is a way to loosen my hand and my eye. I always see swirling spirals before I fall to sleep each night, so I decided that would be a great thing to paint and to loosen up my hand...so this is what I did, and now I am back to painting and creating....