Aaargh! Typepad won't let me upload any photos!!!
In the book Art and Fear, the authors tell of a ceramics teacher who divided his class. Half the class would be graded on the quantity of pots they made. The other half would be graded on the quality of a single pot. In the end, the highest quality pots came from the group of students that had made in quantity. I'm in the middle of a project that requires I make in quantity.
I've been invited to hang my work at Annie's Art and Frame in Ballard for September. I couldn't pass up the opportunity but I didn't have enough work available. So, I've been painting every night. I couldn't sustain this for more than the 2 1/2 weeks that I have available but it is an amazing experience. I'm finding that the more work I do, the more ideas I have. An unexpected bonus is how much I'm learning.
Steven Pressfield writes in his book Do The Work! "The enemy is our chattering brain, which, if we give it so much as a nanosecond, will start producing excuses, alibis, transparent self-justifications, and a million reasons why we can't/shouldn't/won't do what we know we need to do. Start before you're ready." If I had time to think about what I'm trying to do, I would have several reasons why I couldn't do it. I need to spend time with my family, I'm so tired when I get home from work, I have so much going on at work, I'm getting ready to leave town for an extended vacation... All true and all a reason why I couldn't meet my goal. I could find several people who would totally support me in my belief of not be able to do it. Fortunately, I didn't really even have time to consider all of that. The opportunity came up suddenly and while I would have like to be prepared for it, I opted to try to meet the challenge it brought. I set two art related goals this year. To have a show somewhere and to create 30 paintings. With this project I'll easily meet these goals this year. It's time to set a new goal.
Hopefully photos to come later...
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