So just for today, I would like for you to eliminate the word “talent” from your vocabulary. I know it’s a real thing sometimes, but I also believe it’s used as a way to stop creativity in its tracks. Lately I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the concept of talent. If you’re being honest, there was quite possibly a time in your life when you were discouraged from creating art because you became convinced you weren’t “talented.” Even further along the way, we are discouraged from pursuing art because it’s not considered a serious part of our development, a viable part of a set of problem-solving skills, or a respectable way to make a living. If they come early enough in life, these experiences can become voices in our heads that stay with us long after we become adults. When did you stop making art? Was it in elementary school when you decided everyone was better at it than you, and you didn’t want to risk being embarrassed or humiliated? Or was it that time when the teacher looked at your masterpiece and told you that trees weren’t supposed to be purple, or to please color inside the lines? Or maybe it was on the day that you painted a picture of the most beautiful butterfly imaginable, only to have a significant adult ask you “What is that?” I was looking through my sketchbook from last spring and summer, and am more than ready to get some color back into my palette. Perhaps more vibrant colors? We’ll see.Within the next couple of weeks, spring will be here in all its glory. I would love to do more pet portraits, but with my own personal stamp on them somehow. I’m not sure they count as stepping stones in a new direction. They included a couple of florals, a winter landscape, and several pet portraits. I have done several commissions over the winter, which make me grateful to my collectors. Together they feel disjointed and scattered. There are some botanical sketches, a few little colorful doodle abstracts, some gelli prints, and some collage.
I still share some of my experiments on social media, but when I look at them, there’s little rhyme or reason. But with freedom comes a certain amount of paralysis - at least it does for me. I was looking through my sketchbook from last spring and summer, and am more than ready to get some color back into my palette.Īt first I thought all this solitude would allow me the freedom to explore everything under the sun without concern for the outcome. Within the next couple of weeks, spring will be here in all its glory. Monotypes, 4×6 inches Mixed Media Botanical Sketches, 4×5 inches The semi-isolation with this pandemic has done something to change my art process, and I’m not yet sure whether it’s a good or a bad thing.Īt first I thought all this solitude would allow me the freedom to explore everything under the sun without concern for the outcome. At the end of this post I’ll add a couple of new pieces, just to show I haven’t been completely non-productive. Here is an updated version of my post from exactly one year ago.
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