STAY on track during the holiday!
For many of us, our holiday schedule makes any really attention to art nearly impossible. Here is a tip that not only helps you grow as an artist but also might help you clean out some old paintings in your studio before your guests arrive!
If you have accumulated a few unfinished paintings, now is the time to wrap things up. Set the artwork around your home or studio where you can see them while doing something other than painting. This permits your sub-conscious side to get to work. Carry a post-it note pad and pencil. Chances are you will get an idea or two of something to try to move your painting forward. When you do, write it on the post-it and stick it to the back of your painting, not to the front because then the note will become part of the composition!
Let the painting ‘talk’ to you. Permit yourself to break outside of your comfort zone and try something different from you standard ’solution’. It helps if you approach this process with the attitude of “what will pull this together” and not “I can’t do this or that because of ?”. As Virginia Cobb says, ‘If you don’t try something new, how do you find out what the possibilities are?”
When you have an idea or two, jump into the process with energy and boldness. Don’t ‘pity-pat’! One way or another, you will have tackled a problem and learned by your efforts what works and what does not. IN ADDITION, having limited time to work on the solution will be in your favor. It will help you get busy and focus on solving problems in a new way.
I have a stack of “in progress” works that I’m sick of looking at. Before January 1st rolls around, I hope to have moved a few forward … even if it’s toward the circular file. In any case, it’s a win-win. If nothing else, I will gain new insights on what not to do. Moreover, I will have made more space in my studio for later efforts.
~Lynn