Creative Quest

I like to take photos of my work as they progress, it gives me a sharper perspective and often either confirms what I suspected needed work or shows me what isn't working. There's lots of refining work to do with this one.  Then, sometimes you just have to give it time before you are certain of what needs to happen next.  I seem to be doing a lot of that these days, waiting.  I've been blasting away at a creative block that has me struggling to enter freely into the process which is what it's all about for me, the process.     "The quest into creativity is a journey into the heart and soul..." M. Cassou 

Maybe it's because I work in abstract, I have no reference to look at and guide me into a piece, though I expect creative blocks challenge those who work in realism in taking what they see before them and finding a way to interpret in their own style.

I've received so much great advice and words of encouragement as I am struggling with this creative block. I show up each day and keep hacking away at it, not just with paint, but in doing the inner work of processing what life throws at us.  Things can become stagnant too darn quickly if we don't keep pressing in and doing the work, interior and exterior.

 My art journal is the place I go to work out colour combos, ideas and techniques for pieces I want to create on canvas.  I wind up with a journal full of backgrounds and random stencil clean ups that I then try to use to write out or further explore my inner world.  The right hand page is where I determined the colours I would use for the above unfinished piece.

This is my youngest Granddaughter, Lyvia's journal.  She keeps it here so Nanny can clean her brushes and used stencils in her pages giving her something fun and different for her to then add images and captions.  She has always been fascinated with my journals and would take several of them home with her if Nanny were ready to part with them :-)  I love to encourage my girls to explore and discover their unique voice, I tell Lyvia she is a 'Colour Layerist' a term she loves to mull over and think about how it applies to her creative bent.

"The quest into creativity is a journey into the heart and soul...When you step into the Creative Quest, you enter the unlived ground of your life, the wilderness of your soul."  Point Zero by Michele Cassou