Staying in Motion

I started a new piece today and it felt good to push the green wax to the back of the palette!  Whew, I’ve been overdosing on green.  This piece is full of grays which I’m interpreting as blue/gray and tomorrow I’ll add some warm colors.  After I was into this piece for a couple of hours, I realized I was using my materials more efficiently.  It has taken a long time to become natural with mixing colors, managing the brushes in wax, returning wax to palette, and generally handling these alien materials.  I was able to stay in MOTION today and think a little less about process - which gave me more space to think about my piece of art.  

It’s hard to tell where it’s going right now but I’m feeling good about it.  At the moment, it’s on track.  I didn’t want to stop working tonight because I was in the groove —- but I was tired and that can bring on a bad decision too easily.  SO, I spent some time with the studio cats and the dogs and I left for the day.  We’ll see where tomorrow takes this piece.  

I need Beeswax quick!

I’m out!  It’s ordered but I can’t make medium till it comes in.  Drat!  Poor planning….how did I let this happen?

Today I continued with the gourd foliage.  Carving, filling, and scraping back.  

Periodically I add a layer of medium, scrape back to a smooth finish, and fuse.  This layer isolates and protects the work I’ve done (to a degree) and adds depth as the piece builds.  

I still have pigmented wax medium on the palette so I can continue to work on the design, but I’m out of medium so I can only go so far.

When the beeswax arrives, hopefully tomorrow, it will take a few hours to prepare medium and get rolling again. This is where I left it tonight

Blog Week: Burn Out

I said there was no such thing.  Really, isn’t it just an excuse to slow down?  Isn’t it another of those terms like painter’s block, a label for something that doesn’t deserve the attention?  Push through it.  Keep working.  I’m doing what I love so leave me alone.

Well, I still don’t like the term “painter’s block” but I’ve learned some respect for “burn out”.  I think maybe”fizzle down” is more accurate in my case.  Have you ever worked so long and late on a project that you find yourself hunched over the computer or paper, poised to continue but nothing is happening….for hours…and nothing is going to happen until you rest?  That is what happened to me only my shell was still working — but with no spark.  

And man, did I ever miss my spark.

So, after a slow down to ponder and rethink, I’m now on a slightly different path.  Funny, that sounds like the slow down was by choice.  Not exactly.  I’m sure this path will lead right back to the road I was on eventually because no one changes THAT much but I’m hoping I’ll stay out of the fast lane. 

Today is a perfect example of being on the path.  I painted at the studio for a few hours, came home to order beeswax, then had dinner with my husband and a friend before starting to think about my blog.  Granted, I didn’t start my blog entry till 10:30pm but you’ll notice it is short tonight.  That’s because I want to be at the studio by 9am tomorrow.  

In the fast lane I would have been at the studio by 8am this morning and worked till 3pm, then did my blog entry.  If there was time for dinner after dog walking, laundry, etc. it would have been a late one with my husband and scheduling with a friend would have been too complicated. I would be in a dither right now because I couldn’t remember my password to some supply house and I needed to get my beeswax order in before tomorrow morning.

Yes, the path is much healthier.  More tomorrow on the new and improved me.