Gone a Little Pollock In The Studio

Okay I confess to having gone off the grid on this one.  The trouble began when I went to the studio with a plan in mind.  You'd think I'd know by now that plans seldom work out for me, not in the studio.  Of course you know that artist/teacher Michele Cassou would have something to say about it...

"To create you do not need to come up with a plan, but rather take away all plans to give natural originality, style, and wisdom a chance to manifest from intuition."  Point Zero

There came a point when what I had planned and was trying to make happen on the canvas was dead in the water, a wash of it!  Out came the squeegee, brayer, brushes, inks and one mass of clogged up paint.  (That's a whole other story, a brand of paint I'm going to have to give up on, it just keeps drying up in the tip of the bottle leading to endless stabbing with a needle to clear it again and again, sheesh)

It was crazy fun! There was paint splattered all over me, glasses, cloths anything exposed including the floor.  I kept thinking what on earth would my mother think of the mess I was making.  I grinned like a maniac and kept splatting and spraying.

So I have one wild background to work from, at this point I'm not making any plans as to what comes next!  Instead I'm asking myself what this painting is expressing, something Cassou encourages artist to do, ask questions.

"With questions, you can dig into your creative potential as far as you want. The questions gently knock at the door of your inspiration, or bang on it, or blast it open, or anything in between so that your heart and soul can be engaged." Point Zero by Michele Cassou

My creative door got blasted, how about yours?

Free Play Frenzy

Well 'snap!' it's been a battle, kind of like the one Odd Chick posted about in her own art endeavors .  I had almost given up on my latest collage canvas. I guess that's what comes of changing out the key piece to the collage putting my colour choices at odds with the new focal point.  Last night in one wild frenzy of 'Free Play' I smeared the canvas with Transparent Burnt Umber & T. Raw Umber. Using only my hands I worked it into the areas I needed covered and skimmed over other areas including portions of the photo.  It was glorious!  The wild abandon part when you don't give a rip if it works or not because you've come to the end of yourself anyway and the fear of 'ruining' something is long gone.

I was alone in the house but if you could have heard me when I saw what was emerging from the canvas as opposed to what I had been producing, you'd have though I was a mad woman.  Maybe I am when it comes to my art.

It was a living moment straight out of 'Free Play!'
"In school, in the workplace, in learning an art or sport, we are taught to fear, hide, or avoid mistakes.  But mistakes are of incalculable value to us.  There is first the value of mistakes as the raw material of learning.  If we don't make mistakes we are unlikely to make anything at all."  Free Play by Stephen Nachmanovitch


As you can see I've been continuing to read Free Play, and as with any book there are portions that speak louder to me than others.  So I take what I need and let the rest go, the gems of insight I hang onto.

My sister Kel and I have been having another one of our discussions, she has some wonderful insights into the whole value issue many of us face. I'm hoping she will flesh it out and write in more depth on the subject for her blog.

"You know, I think that may be the difference between us and other successful artists out there who are actually selling more of their stuff.  We come at it from our own viewpoint with all of its insecurities and attempts at humility, instead of looking at it from THEIR point of view, where sticking a few flowers in the ground, or splashing some paint on a canvas is seen as a hugely creative output that they could never hope to accomplish on their own, or something that will grace their walls with colour and mystery that just cannot be found in any department store.  We underestimate the value that people put on these things, and what they are willing to pay to experience it.  (We also come at it from OUR financial viewpoint, which does not allow for any luxuries like that!)"  Kellie Graham personal email to me :)


As you can see the gel is still drying on the canvas and I've more work to do, but at least now I want to continue working with it and that's a good thing. Now if I only had some skills with photography, I'd be able to take better pictures of the canvas :-)   Hope all of you are having your moments of Free Play this week.