The preparation continues
upcoming companions, pt 2
My mom reminded me over the weekend that our creative pursuits should be fun, something she was thinking about during her centerpiece arrangement workshop. Painting hasn’t always been fun since being laid off. With more time, I’ve felt like I should be painting exponentially more, which hasn’t been the case. Fixating on finishing paintings, and a lot of them, isn’t fun.
I’ve been focused on what I’m going to paint at these workshops, and since my conversation with my mom, I’ve also started thinking about why I paint. Right now, the competitive part of me wants to prove to myself that I can do this more seriously, but I don’t think competition should/can fuel a longterm artistic practice. There needs to be something a bit more earnest to it.
I have made some decisions about what I’m going to paint (larger, triptychs, small human bodies in sweeping bodies of water), and this week, I’m thinking about why…questions that will probably carry me into these two weeks of workshops.
I read two things recently that were thoughtful reflections on why/how people make decisions in their lives. The first was a New York Times article about leaving urban lives for farming. The second was a Substack post from Alexander Chee about how he writes while witnessing everything that is happening in the world.
Obviously, making the paintings is important to me, but I’ve lost sight on why and how I go about doing it. I know a big part of it is practicing, consistency, trying…so here’s to another week of trying and seeing what comes of it. If you don’t want to read the full Substack post from Alexander Chee, I found his final questions ones that I’ll be thinking about for myself, and maybe you’ll find them poignant too.
“So maybe one answer to how to write now is to teach yourself what you might need to be relentless. To ask yourself how do I tell the truth while I’m alive, and how do I keep telling the truth after I die? How do I keep showing up for what I believe in in ways that cannot be stopped? How can I keep making people feel possible? And so I try every day to live there until the day my books carry on without me.”
And finally, some snapshots of recently completed paintings that I’ll be bringing with me to Colorado as a starting point for my new work and some sketches/studies I’ve started in preparation.
Until next time,
Alison