Getting Out of My Head - And Onto the Canvas

a piece in progress, playing with paints & paper

I hadn't picked up a brush in about five or six weeks. Last night, after a bout of despair came forth at the kitchen table, my husband suggested that I paint. So I did.

How easy it is for me to forget how important time at the art table is to my self-care regime.

Much like my Basics, if I avoid the art table for an extended period of time, my spirit takes a downturn. My happy-coloured glasses quickly become multiple shades of gloomy and I wonder why. So when my husband suggested that I paint, I knew it was the right thing to do.

I'm two days into an unofficial 5-Day Challenge; I'm calling it unofficial because I'm approaching it with a softer stance than usual. I'm not in it to defeat resistance, which is my usual motive, I'm in it for self-care.

Five days in a row I will show up at the art table and let my intuition be my guide. There's no pressure to finish anything or produce anything specific, or even to report back here, as I usually do.

All I know is that it's time to get out of my head, and the easiest way for me to do that is by moving onto the canvas.

So I will.

~~~

What's your guaranteed self-care activity? You know, the one you always forget?

5-Day Challenge: Results from Days 4 & 5

Could someone please tell me where the five days went?

Results for Days 4 and 5...

Day 4

Remember how at the end of Day 3 I ended up with a piece that had me grieving the loss of its interim state? All I could do was move on so, building on Day 3's end result (the first picture), I forged ahead:

     

  

It's still a work in progress, but I am much happier with where it's going than I was at the end of Day 3.

Day 5

On my last day I came full circle and refined my end results from Day 1 (see first pic below). I solidified the background and some of the colours. She too is still a work in progress, but I like where she's heading. Voici:

  

And that's it! I declare this 5-Day Challenge complete.

~~~

I enjoyed the ritual of painting and the learning that goes with too much to let it go again, I intend to continue.

Painting every day might be a tad unrealistic, but I might surprise myself at how often I get to it. After all, I get to choose when I go to the table and if I want it, it'll happen.

And if it lapses again? There's always another 5-Day Challenge.

Maybe you'll join me on that one?

5-Day Challenge: Day 3 Results

Oh my, Day 3 you were interesting.

Again I pulled out a piece that had been sitting in the "in progress" cubby shelf for nearly a year:

Day 3 starting point

I liked the blue figure on the right-hand side, but then I turned it around and saw a woman looking out into the distance...

Day 3 interim state, I really like this

... and gradually she became this:

Day 3 end result, I preferred the interim state above

Faces intimidate me when they ask to be brought to life. Continuing on this piece will be a major challenge for me, I'm afraid of screwing it up even more.

BUT, one of the first painting workshops I took in 2008 was called Painting as a Process and that process involves persisting through resistance, risking what's there to create something even better.

A metaphor for life perhaps?

I'll let you be the judge. I'm off to meet one of my artistic challenges and see if I can shape Day 3's work in progress into something that pleases me.

Tune in tomorrow to see if I actually go through with it.

5-Day Challenge: Day 2 Results

In the interest of keeping myself accountable during this 5-Day Challenge I'm laying it all out here folks - the good, the bad and the downright ugly. Be gentle, 'k?

Day 2: I started with a work in progress that had been parked on the shelf since April 2011 (apologies for the bad lighting, but you'll get the gist)...

5-Day Challenge Day 2 starting point

... that evolved into this, still a work in progress:

5-Day Challenge Day 2 results

work in progress 8"x16" on canvas

It's similar in style to a piece I completed during my last 5-Day Challenge; I look forward to seeing where it'll go from here.

Back soon with Day 3...

~~~

It's not too late to join in. I'm telling you, it feels good!

5-Day Challenge + An Invitation

I've neglected painting for too long.

A PLEDGE

It's time for me to get back to the table and the best way for me to do that is to issue myself a 5-Day Challenge during which I pledge to show up at the art table and paint, five days in a row. Yesterday was Day 1:

5-Day Challenge Feb. 2012 - Day 1 results

work in progress, 9"x12" on cardboard

AN INVITATION

Join me.

Whatever your medium - film, words, melody, paint, clay, digital media - it doesn't matter. Your "art table" might be your computer screen or your dark room; mine involves paint and brushes.

It also doesn't matter how long you spend at the table; fifteen minutes spent processing photos or crafting a blog post is better than none at all. Defeating resistance by showing up five days in a row is the goal.

And remember, it's about practice and play - no perfection necessary.

I've done this a few times before and each time I'm amazed at how much easier it gets to show up after only five days and how much progress I make without even intending to!

Have I convinced you yet?

You can do this. Leave me your pledge in the comments.

You know you wanna.