Does painting/drawing dilute your writing or does it enrich your writing? Seeing drawing = drawing seeing, right? Does your muse fall asleep the moment you wet your paintbrush? I think not. I think you are communicating as much in your paintings as you are in your writing. I look at your tiny landscapes and wonder why not one person walks along that thin shoreline. Did I just miss her? Will she ever come? Does a fox crouch at the edge of the thicket? Sometimes I imagine a slight breeze or feel a change in the humidity. And the light. Oh that light. Will the haze ever let the sun cast a sharp shadow?
I think drawing and painting are very enriched from LIFE, but because it's my job, six days a week, it leaves me very little time for writing. Not complaining! Just contemplating. Like i said, I love to draw and paint. But I do feel like I am always searching, and not yet going deeper. It's all about going deeper. And of course my writing is limited to one and a half days a week to really spend good chunks of time. Better than it was a year ago though :) Thank you for your beautiful thoughts, Bev. It means a lot to me that you are drawn into the landscapes like this. 🙏🏼
I just reread your post. I am grateful I am retired and do not have to produce something each day. Even though I have more time to do what I want to do rather than what I have to do, I still struggle with priorities. This discussion has prompted me adjust those priorities yet again.
-- Kateri, just as life itself, the river embodies constant transformation, reminding us of the beauty found in embracing the ephemerality of each passing instant. To witness a river is to witness the embodiment of impermanence, a living testament to the ever-changing nature of the world around us. Thank you. Xo.
I found this writing especially resonant with how I've been feeling. I am constantly attracted to new crafts, new ways to use my art and crafting tools, skills and supplies. Yet, I feel there is something deeper I want to connect with, a more intimate use of one media (but which one??) that explores something more than another "surface" art piece, something with more "meaning" even if its mostly meaningful to only me. I appreciate the prod to delve deeper...
I really get that. You know, I am so inspired by artists like Sarah Simblett, whose tool is a dip pen and a bottle of black ink. That's it. And boy has she gone deep. But I am not Sarah Simblett. It might not be in my nature. Still... I long for it. Thank you so much for your comment, Cindy.
This is a concept that I struggle with or maybe I just ignore it. 🤣 With all the wonderful and generous artists offering classes and tutorials, it’s hard to not want to dip my toe in the waters.
I also discovered that using all the art I have created in new projects rather than stuffing them in a box has been a way to go deeper. I can “see” my work in a new way and appreciate my efforts. Is this going deeper? Maybe. I like to think it’s all part of the process.
Going deeper can also feel like work, challenging yourself to repeat the process, practice the techniques. It takes time. I’m still committed to not buying new supplies this year and it has caused me to explore my work with fresh eyes and no expectations. 💕💕💕
I really admire the work you are doing, using what you have, recreating from what is already there. Freedom in restriction, right? Thank you, Sue. And toe dippers unite!
Remember Ansel Adam’s and Group f64. They all set their lenses to f64 and created stunning photographs for years. I think of that when I am tempted to buy yet another paintbrush, or flit off to another medium. Oooo, a set of block carving knives for only $24.99 on Amazon. It could be here tomorrow. Like Cindy, I appreciate the nudge to go deeper, not wider.
I surely do remember. And thanks for reminding me 🙏🏼 I have gone through periods where I only paint circles for weeks. I feel pretty happy doing that. Thanks, Bev.
Words of wisdom the addition of your ancient wisdom knowledge and your beautiful art and just to let you know I always wanted to be painter and I was a writer now I'm just getting back to painting since my mother died in January 15, 2023 I just couldn't for a year. She did warn me about chin Hair's. I'm very fortunate I don't have any. I am 60.
It's good to get back to what our heart longs for 🩵 I know losing your mom was a very difficult things for you. Some kinds of loss just never really go away, but we can, I think, transform our grief into something beautiful and meaningful.
Very relatable. But from where I’m standing, it looks that you have found your ‘one thing’ - the central idea/guiding light of your work, expressed in your art, your writing and your teaching. That’s what I meant with my north star comments to your last post :-). Love, Karin
Thank you, Karen. It means a lot to me, you know. The key words here are "from where I'm standing." I am very fulfilled by work as a teacher. It's my own personal work that has nothing to do with the paintings I create as lessons where I feel that longing. At heart I'm a writer first. I have to honour that. It's good to explore these feelings 🩵
During reading I felt like underwater but with ability to breathe. This came so in time. Deeper,deeper,deeper,not wider. With the focus on every priceless moment that really matters. Thank you so much💙
PS I loved the peanut shells like birthdays night note🙃
I had to sit with this one for a few days...it speaks so much to where I am right now -- actually, my word for this year is 'deepen' so yes, very timely. I feel pulled in different directions these days....do I want to keep writing/publishing, do I want to prioritize my painting? I can muster convincing arguments for both. :) Writing is what I do, but painting....ah, painting...that feels like a whole other level of creative joy. So I feel like I can relate to you, though we're at opposite points on the spectrum.
What I have been able to do is narrow down my focus -- the internet provides limitless sparkly things for my magpie brain but I end up spinning in circles and never really getting anywhere. I'm learning to recognize the difference between things that I like to look at, and things that I actually want to do. That's been pretty profound. Radically reducing my time online has also helped with deepening into things....again, the magpie brain that's so easily distracted. There came a point where I realized I'd need several lifetimes to do all of the things that interest me -- so I had to pick one or two.
That said, I'm never going to be the kind of person who can immerse themselves in just one thing forever...I sometimes envy those who have One True Thing and have committed themselves to it for years and years....but the internet has definitely made me more distractible and that isn't a good feeling.
Ha, I feel like I could talk about this for ages...it's a topic close to my heart....sorry for the long comment!!
Dear fellow magpie 🩵 Ha! No really, Melanie, I so understand and I have taken the same efforts toward my own distractions. It really has helped, but still, the longings...
I actually love to paint. I can be immersed in colour and brushstroke and gorgeous paper for hours and have no idea where the time has has gone. It can be a distraction, too! I am also incredibly passionate about my work as a teacher of painting. It's quite separate from my own personal longings about my very personal work.
I love how you said that: the difference between what I like to look at and things I actually want to do. That is a real thing.
Thanks so much for your thoughtful comments. I loved reading it. Comment as long as you feel! Thanks so much ✨
Very thought-provoking read. I have always felt that different mediums and exploring different genres allowed me to reach and express the many different facets of me, my weirdly fractured personality. If I stick to one too long, it feels as though I have ran dry…maybe there simply is for me no further depth to plumb! Well written and much food for thought.
Or maybe the explorers of everything among us, the hummingbirds tasting all the nectars, (you and I included!) go deep by true presence and attention to whatever it is we are doing. Thank you, Tracy. A kindred spirit :)
Does painting/drawing dilute your writing or does it enrich your writing? Seeing drawing = drawing seeing, right? Does your muse fall asleep the moment you wet your paintbrush? I think not. I think you are communicating as much in your paintings as you are in your writing. I look at your tiny landscapes and wonder why not one person walks along that thin shoreline. Did I just miss her? Will she ever come? Does a fox crouch at the edge of the thicket? Sometimes I imagine a slight breeze or feel a change in the humidity. And the light. Oh that light. Will the haze ever let the sun cast a sharp shadow?
I think drawing and painting are very enriched from LIFE, but because it's my job, six days a week, it leaves me very little time for writing. Not complaining! Just contemplating. Like i said, I love to draw and paint. But I do feel like I am always searching, and not yet going deeper. It's all about going deeper. And of course my writing is limited to one and a half days a week to really spend good chunks of time. Better than it was a year ago though :) Thank you for your beautiful thoughts, Bev. It means a lot to me that you are drawn into the landscapes like this. 🙏🏼
I just reread your post. I am grateful I am retired and do not have to produce something each day. Even though I have more time to do what I want to do rather than what I have to do, I still struggle with priorities. This discussion has prompted me adjust those priorities yet again.
-- Kateri, just as life itself, the river embodies constant transformation, reminding us of the beauty found in embracing the ephemerality of each passing instant. To witness a river is to witness the embodiment of impermanence, a living testament to the ever-changing nature of the world around us. Thank you. Xo.
So very true, and beautifully expressed. Thank you for reading and for being here, Thaissa.
I found this writing especially resonant with how I've been feeling. I am constantly attracted to new crafts, new ways to use my art and crafting tools, skills and supplies. Yet, I feel there is something deeper I want to connect with, a more intimate use of one media (but which one??) that explores something more than another "surface" art piece, something with more "meaning" even if its mostly meaningful to only me. I appreciate the prod to delve deeper...
I really get that. You know, I am so inspired by artists like Sarah Simblett, whose tool is a dip pen and a bottle of black ink. That's it. And boy has she gone deep. But I am not Sarah Simblett. It might not be in my nature. Still... I long for it. Thank you so much for your comment, Cindy.
This is a concept that I struggle with or maybe I just ignore it. 🤣 With all the wonderful and generous artists offering classes and tutorials, it’s hard to not want to dip my toe in the waters.
I also discovered that using all the art I have created in new projects rather than stuffing them in a box has been a way to go deeper. I can “see” my work in a new way and appreciate my efforts. Is this going deeper? Maybe. I like to think it’s all part of the process.
Going deeper can also feel like work, challenging yourself to repeat the process, practice the techniques. It takes time. I’m still committed to not buying new supplies this year and it has caused me to explore my work with fresh eyes and no expectations. 💕💕💕
I really admire the work you are doing, using what you have, recreating from what is already there. Freedom in restriction, right? Thank you, Sue. And toe dippers unite!
Remember Ansel Adam’s and Group f64. They all set their lenses to f64 and created stunning photographs for years. I think of that when I am tempted to buy yet another paintbrush, or flit off to another medium. Oooo, a set of block carving knives for only $24.99 on Amazon. It could be here tomorrow. Like Cindy, I appreciate the nudge to go deeper, not wider.
I surely do remember. And thanks for reminding me 🙏🏼 I have gone through periods where I only paint circles for weeks. I feel pretty happy doing that. Thanks, Bev.
Words of wisdom the addition of your ancient wisdom knowledge and your beautiful art and just to let you know I always wanted to be painter and I was a writer now I'm just getting back to painting since my mother died in January 15, 2023 I just couldn't for a year. She did warn me about chin Hair's. I'm very fortunate I don't have any. I am 60.
It's good to get back to what our heart longs for 🩵 I know losing your mom was a very difficult things for you. Some kinds of loss just never really go away, but we can, I think, transform our grief into something beautiful and meaningful.
Very relatable. But from where I’m standing, it looks that you have found your ‘one thing’ - the central idea/guiding light of your work, expressed in your art, your writing and your teaching. That’s what I meant with my north star comments to your last post :-). Love, Karin
Thank you, Karen. It means a lot to me, you know. The key words here are "from where I'm standing." I am very fulfilled by work as a teacher. It's my own personal work that has nothing to do with the paintings I create as lessons where I feel that longing. At heart I'm a writer first. I have to honour that. It's good to explore these feelings 🩵
Don’t forget that among even the shallowest of rivers and creeks life abounds on the banks and within.
Jennie, thank you. Yes. Yes yes yes. 🙏🏼
During reading I felt like underwater but with ability to breathe. This came so in time. Deeper,deeper,deeper,not wider. With the focus on every priceless moment that really matters. Thank you so much💙
PS I loved the peanut shells like birthdays night note🙃
🥰 thank you, Katya. Love you so much.
I had to sit with this one for a few days...it speaks so much to where I am right now -- actually, my word for this year is 'deepen' so yes, very timely. I feel pulled in different directions these days....do I want to keep writing/publishing, do I want to prioritize my painting? I can muster convincing arguments for both. :) Writing is what I do, but painting....ah, painting...that feels like a whole other level of creative joy. So I feel like I can relate to you, though we're at opposite points on the spectrum.
What I have been able to do is narrow down my focus -- the internet provides limitless sparkly things for my magpie brain but I end up spinning in circles and never really getting anywhere. I'm learning to recognize the difference between things that I like to look at, and things that I actually want to do. That's been pretty profound. Radically reducing my time online has also helped with deepening into things....again, the magpie brain that's so easily distracted. There came a point where I realized I'd need several lifetimes to do all of the things that interest me -- so I had to pick one or two.
That said, I'm never going to be the kind of person who can immerse themselves in just one thing forever...I sometimes envy those who have One True Thing and have committed themselves to it for years and years....but the internet has definitely made me more distractible and that isn't a good feeling.
Ha, I feel like I could talk about this for ages...it's a topic close to my heart....sorry for the long comment!!
Dear fellow magpie 🩵 Ha! No really, Melanie, I so understand and I have taken the same efforts toward my own distractions. It really has helped, but still, the longings...
I actually love to paint. I can be immersed in colour and brushstroke and gorgeous paper for hours and have no idea where the time has has gone. It can be a distraction, too! I am also incredibly passionate about my work as a teacher of painting. It's quite separate from my own personal longings about my very personal work.
I love how you said that: the difference between what I like to look at and things I actually want to do. That is a real thing.
Thanks so much for your thoughtful comments. I loved reading it. Comment as long as you feel! Thanks so much ✨
Very thought-provoking read. I have always felt that different mediums and exploring different genres allowed me to reach and express the many different facets of me, my weirdly fractured personality. If I stick to one too long, it feels as though I have ran dry…maybe there simply is for me no further depth to plumb! Well written and much food for thought.
Or maybe the explorers of everything among us, the hummingbirds tasting all the nectars, (you and I included!) go deep by true presence and attention to whatever it is we are doing. Thank you, Tracy. A kindred spirit :)
This is great and inspiring. Thank you.
Thank you so much for reading!