Momentum

Evening's Shadow oil 14 x 11

Summers are a busy time for me.  One show is stacked on top of another, my galleries are selling work, the crowds are bustling in the resort towns near where I live.  Much of what I had to do happened in July.  I have finished painting for my Solo Show (more to come in my next post).  I have wrapped up my wet paint event in Crested Butte. August does have some teaching responsibilities, but for the most part, marks a winding down period for me.

Many artists experience the "post-show doldrums."  A lot of energy has gone into producing a show and it can be a time to reassess one's goals and sometimes the what-next can stop your momentum. So, I have learned over the years that it is important for me to line up specific projects for myself after a period of intense creation.  Otherwise, I lose focus and my production wanes.

A few ideas:

• Sign up for a plein air event.
• Line up some commission work. A specific assignment and deadline keeps you from aimlessly trying to paint.
• Visit a place that inspires you.
• Go to the nearest art museum. Study the artists you admire.

Maintaining some kind of schedule helps me immensely. Sometimes I have to do a few bad paintings to get back into the swing of things, but I do find that I can get back to my normal routine fairly quickly if I follow some of the ideas listed above.

Routines and Rituals

Permanence oil 18 x 14

Disciplined routine is an important part of my everyday life.  Even though I work from home, I treat my painting day just as if I needed to show up at an office where I was accountable for getting work done. Otherwise, I would waste my day on the little stuff like laundry and cleaning out my paint drawer.

Every morning, I wake and walk the dog.  This clears the sleepiness and starts me thinking about what I will make for the day.  I am at my desk by 8:00. I paint until 12:30 or so NO MATTER WHAT. I break for lunch and then it is back to work until about 2:00. Then I can take care of prepping boards, and framing, and inventory, and the blog and website, in the late afternoon when I am too fuzzy-headed for good work.  And then begins the long wait until the next day when I can wake up and get to work again (I stole this line from Donald Hall's Life Work and he stole the line from Hemingway).

I find that many professional artists have a similar routine--though some work at night instead of during the day. I read recently that it actually promotes creativity to have daily rituals. If I haven't followed the daily routine, I get a bit anxious, like all work will cease and I will never sell another piece in my life.  So, it is important to me to stick to it.

What are your routines or rituals?

Recharging



Relics oil 9 x 12

A while back I wrote about cabin fever--the urge to be outside during the long winter months. April has arrived in the high country and the weather is chaotic and unpredictable.  The trees remain bare and the snowbanks are receding but dirty and the landscape is rather unappealing. Definitely not the stuff for hanging on your wall.

When I need some inspiration for upcoming shows, I have found the best thing to do is get in the car and drive to points south to recharge.  Taking in a different landscape, warmer weather, and unmuddied roads allows me to sit at my desk the next day with a clearer head and new ideas. We drove to Salida over the weekend and though there is just a tinge of green, the snow has melted and the ranches are filled with new babies and it was just good to get out and see the promise of Spring. I have been busy the past few days painting from that trip with a renewed energy.

The Creative Drive

Spring Line Study oil 9 x 12

I can't imagine a life where I didn't use my hands to create something. I paint because I am driven to paint. It is difficult to explain the creative drive to anyone who doesn't wake up in the morning excited about what they may make that day. When I was an illustrator, I remember thinking that I couldn't make work without a set deadline or a specific assignment.  What would I choose to paint everyday?  There were too many choices and too many risks. I didn't have the vision to just paint. Who would pay me?

There were gaps of time between illustration assignments and I started to yearn to paint what I wanted to paint everyday. It was difficult to sort out what was important to me at first, but after a trip to Taos to make monoprints, I started to have more clarity about what I wanted to create. And I began to work. Ideas flooded my head. I was in tune with my environment. I wanted to paint it--loosely and with a focus on shape and brushwork. I got cranky if I couldn't get in the studio and work. I didn't need an assignment to motivate me anymore. I had found my creative drive.

What motivates you to paint? Is it your creative drive or something else?

Just Start



Renewal oil 12 x 12

 As I am new to blogging, I have a list of ideas that I would like to write about at some point.  I sat down to write today and reviewed the list and realized none of the ideas were really speaking to me, not one stood out as a good place to start writing.  I had even forgotten what I was thinking about when I wrote some of the ideas down.

The same thing happens to me sometimes at the start of my painting day.  I have limitless materials that I have been thinking about painting and not one of them speaks to me. Or all of them do and I freeze up choosing which one to start with.  Or I've forgotten why I even pulled a photograph to begin with.  As a result, I lose my focus and begin to procrastinate--usually this means running through my photo files for hours on end.

So, the only thing to do is START.  Start painting something. Start writing something. Show up. Usually the rest works itself out. I have found that soon after I have started, an unconscious process kicks in and suddenly I am only wrapped up in what I am doing that moment.  The act of creation is good that way.

I started this painting this morning in honor of Spring.

Productivity

Mountain Stream oil 16 x 12

"There seem to be times of reception and times of creation and it is perhaps difficult not to confuse the two." -Margaret Wise Brown

This week has been a bit of a wash when it comes to work.  Life sometimes gets in the way (this week the dog was at the vet and we had to deal with the neighbor's broken pipes flooding our house) and productivity goes out the window.  I get a bit flustered when I don't have much to show for my time in any given day, but I have to remind myself that as a painter, I am always taking in ideas. 

On my daily walk with the dog, it is hard not to notice the early morning light, or the color on the mountains, or the way the willows dip to touch the river along the way. Sometimes ideas will come when I'm driving, or cooking dinner, or watching a movie. I'll take those collected thoughts back to the studio.  It is important to have your eyes open and to be receptive, and though it doesn't seem like I'm working when I'm noticing the world, that time is just as important as time spent in the studio.