About My Art

Well, it certainly IS nice to click on my little icon for OD and actually have it come up! And I am NOT looking back to my last entry to see how long it has been since I wrote! I know I haven’t written since  the last time I had a meeting with my mentor so I will start with that.

• You might remember that after my first meeting, I spent the first week after it doing nothing because I felt I had to wait until the ideas in my head settled down. Before this second meeting, I felt that things wouldn’t be the same way this time because, well, it was the second meeting. But I had done nothing for a week until yesterday which will be a separate section. So, it turned out that I did nothing again for a week but for a different reason. In the last meeting, the conclusion was that I would work on using layers of color so that as someone looked at the surface, they felt pulled in, that there was more and more to see the longer they looked. This was only one among many ideas that she and I had about how I was going to continue and I was very excited about it. Until I thought about doing it. And then I was very resistant. There are times when I absolutely know that I am my own worst enemy.  Anyway, more about this after I tell you about yesterday.
• Yesterday I drove out to a place I had never been to spend two hours working with a person  who does radically different art from me. First, the driving out there. I am a nervous driver. Until Fred gave up driving completely, he always drove me out to new places before the actual date I had to go because he knew how nervous I was. So, this time, I had to do it all alone. I am pleased with myself that I am able to say I did it and only had to ask for directions once. She did send directions and I did consult Google maps, but part of the nervousness on my part was that I find it difficult to look at directions and drive. Anyway, my confidence is much improved! I had brought stuff to do which was good because it FORCED me to paint. I didn’t do any glazes but I am pleased with what I did. {Here is the point where I feel guilty because I talk about what I did but am remiss in taking pictures so you can SEE what I did.}
• K., my art friend, does creative things that are closer to crafts than my work is so we were both working on stuff that was very different from what the other was doing. The third person who was supposed to be coming never arrived but K and I got on so well that we agreed to continue even if no one else came. Since I could make no excuses as I do when I am at home like "Oh, I have GOT to clean the kitchen/ bathroom/ living room," I HAD to paint.    So, I did for one and three-quarter hours. And although it wasn’t what I had told my mentor I would be doing, I was quite pleased with it. And although K and I won’t be meeting next week since she will be out of town, we are definitely meeting the week after.
• Writing for me is a way to solve problems. {No, I am not changing the subject. Keep reading.} It was bothering me that I seemed to NEED a week to do nothing after each mentoring session. I was concerned that my mentor would feel I was not  a SERIOUS artist. And, actually, there are times when I am still not sure that I am or even if I need to be . Anyway, while I was writing the stuff above, I came to the conclusion that I would tell my mentor I NEEDED a week off doing any art after each meeting to get myself ready to continue. And since I am paying her for these mentoring sessions, {and believe me, it is money well spent and I am even reducing my ebook Kindle buying budget so I HAVE the money} this means that *I* am the one in charge, and if I need a week off to let things gel, then I will be taking a week off painting after each session. So, I will bring that up when we meet again, or, more probably, by email before we meet again. It has also just occurred to me that since I am now giving myself "permission" to have a free week, it is very likely that I will never need another one. {This very often happens!} Anyway, I will have that option even if I don’t need it again.

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

— Confucius (Chinese Philosopher) 551-479 B.C.

"Anything you’re good at contributes to happiness."

— Bertrand Russell