I know it’s not helpful to go ‘dark’ on your friends but I’m back. Sort of.
These past several months I have been diligently working everyday. Not an exaggeration. I mean it. Everyday. I love working. I love creating. I am one of those unicorns that has a daily art practice. I get up. I take care of the necessary chores and then I sit down to read emails and do a couple of hours of ‘learning’. I take online classes. Every single day. I love to learn. I have probably spent enough time doing self-education that I could have 3 MFAs since the beginning of the pandemic. This isn’t free education either. I pay for a ton of classes. I also pay for things like Domestika, SkillShare, Maestro, CreativeLive, courses on Kajabi, Coursera, PaintTube TV, etc. (Just to name a few). I don’t expect these to make me into some sort of super-artist overnight. I just love to learn new ideas, techniques and styles. I want to see what ideas others are working on. It gives me inspiration. It also gives me hope. I love to see the styles that others have and how they differ wildly. It is so reassuring to see that there isn’t the perfection of realism that will appeal to the world. It is the uniqueness and personality of an artist that catches people’s eye. I find that there are fine artists out there that want to hold the art world to their standard of perfection as though it were the only style or creative expression that has meaning, and I find that extremely frustrating. It becomes the kind of gate-keeping that we really need to get away from. Artists supporting artists is what makes me smile. Not a fine artist that feels better by putting down another’s work. (You obviously aren’t that good if you need to discredit another person’s expression). Have you ever noticed that some of the most amazing and prolific artists are generous with their feedback and kind words? Yup. Me too.
Where am I going with this? I just want to let you know where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to. I’ve had a challenging 20 months or so. I went from really believing in myself and my work, to not entering any shows and not having any sales, (in-person or otherwise). There’s a lot more to that story but let’s just say I’m feeling like I can come out of my hidey-hole and greet the world again. I’m not feeling 100% but I feel like I can take care of myself again and I don’t feel like giving up anymore.
So, here’s a ‘hiya’ to anyone here who reads this. Thanks for checking in with me. I hope to share some work very soon.