Chuck Close nailed it: “Inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work. And the belief that things will grow out of the activity itself and that you will — through work — bump into other possibilities and kick open other doors that you would never have dreamt of if you were just sitting around looking for a great ‘art idea.’ And the belief that process, in a sense, is liberating and that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every day. Today, you know what you’ll do, you could be doing what you were doing yesterday, and tomorrow you are gonna do what you did today, and at least for a certain period of time you can just work. If you hang in there, you will get somewhere.”
It was almost like divine intervention when my friend and fellow artist, Marla Fasano, tagged me in a Facebook status about doing this 30 days of art challenge. The last couple weeks I had been so focused on getting my yard and gardens tidy, I went gangbusters on that and then when I returned to the studio, I was sort of lost and unsure of myself all over again. I did some crafty things, I cleaned and tried to organize. I know I worked every day for long hours and yet by the end of the week I had so little to show for it. This was very frustrating, to say the least.
So when I saw this challenge pop up (that just happened to fall at the start of the month of June AND perfectly timed with Monday being the first of the month) it just felt like the answer I didn't even know I was looking for. I had to do it. Something to hold me to the fire to paint every day. To FOCUS.
And so day 1 began that familiar feeling of painting again after a little break. It's tight and controlled, it's falling back on old familiar routines. Every. Time. I made some art, but it wasn't ground breaking or anything...
Day 2 I began to loosen up and everything opened up from there. The rest of the week flew by and one idea evolved into the next, paint flowing freely and straight from the source. No over-thinking, fast and loose. By the end of the week, I had a couple of big paintings and an idea for a new series. Not bad for five days!
Here's my journey so far via images... First, some pics of what I got myself into before this began.
My wacky little artsy herb garden out by the studio. One of several outdoor projects I worked on that are decidedly quirky.
One of the projects I got sidetracked by. Love this wire mermaid sculpture (sorry the photo chops off her tail) and what I have in mind for it, but the beading will take forever. A project to save for another day...
Day 1 was rainy and I was tentatively working small. It's like I have to tip toe my way back into painting...
Day 2 I started to open up working much larger. (I also worked on that floral.)
By the end of day 3 I had a completed painting and a newly stretched canvas. Now things were really on a roll...
Day 4 was all about working on this 48" x 48" canvas, as was day 5...
And now I have these paintings completed and listed in my shop!
Summer Meadow - Acrylic and oil pastel on two 16" x 20" canvases
Available for purchase here - https://www.etsy.com/listing/235908439/original-abstract-landscape-painting
Phoenix - Acrylic and oil pastel on 36" x 36" canvas
Available for purchase here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/235850246/large-original-abstract-painting-phoenix
Undercurrent - Acrylic on 48" x 48" canvas
Available for purchase here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/235993265/extra-large-abstract-seascape-original
Today is day 6 and there is work to be done! You can follow along with my daily progress on facebook, and be sure to check out Marla's page Sorcha Moon to see her daily silverpoint work, as well as Deana Diefenbach's BellaCosaArt page for her 30 days of creating updates.
