Another night, another 5 minutes, another piece of the puzzle falls into place.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
5 Minutes
Kaizen
ask small questions~to dispel fear and inspire creativity
think small thoughts~to develop new skills and habits
take small actions~that guarantee success
solve small problems~even when faced with overwhelming difficulties
bestow small rewards~to yourself or others to produce the best results
recognize the small but crucial moments that everyone else ignores
I'm trying the 5 minute method to get myself moving again. As unsettled as I am these days I can still manage 5 minutes on a creative project each day. I've done this before to good effect. Taking such a small action has an eroding effect on the resistance/fear in me. Its such a small goal that I can reach it with ease. Success is guaranteed. Each little success sands down the fear in me. Then the fun can kick in and it takes on a life of its own.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
More Steps
Its funny how recognizing that I'm experiencing some new dynamics in other areas of my life, and realizing that its understandable that it may be difficult to maintain a focus on artwork at the moment made the idea of actually doing something just a little easier tonight. I relaxed and followed an idle thought or two. No pressure, just a few minutes of messing around.
I noticed something else tonight, another aspect of all or nothing thinking...It gets difficult to start again sometimes because I think
"oh no! I haven't done anything for awhile... the next thing I do better be really good just to make up for lost time"
Thinking that of course sort of ratchets up the pressure to perform, which makes it just a little harder to start
Then if I don't have all the energy necessary to get started...
I repeat the whole process again and maybe again, each time ratcheting the pressure up just little more.
Mmmmm... self defeating?
Monday, April 19, 2010
Baby Steps
I've dropped out of the art swing for the last few weeks.
Usually I'm inclined to beat myself up for that sort of behavior (not that THAT helps any)
This time I will try a different path and acknowledge that my life has been developing on some different fronts lately.
Work has been changing for me for the last year or so, its a good change, into a position of more responsibility, interaction, and new experiences (my first business trip last week). I feel as though some growth is taking place there on my part.
I've also started really paying attention to my diet for the first time in years. I am trying to lose a little weight... the pounds have been creeping up in the past couple of years.
And gain some fitness... as my activity level has dropped off the weight has gone up.
Nothing crazy or obsessive just less calories, more fiber and water, and more movement.
This does mean tracking food and being less passive about what I eat. More cooking and awareness of the choices I make. Making the time to get moving on a regular basis.
Its all a shift in priorities, and I have been negotiating it at the cost of artwork.
The artwork habit has been pretty wobbly for months now, I keep picking it up and putting it down.
I have a difficult time with balancing my life, I'm pretty good at "all or nothing" but all or nothing doesn't work equally well for all things. I tend to focus on one aspect of my life at the cost of everything else and it gets all out of whack.
So baby steps are called for to regain my stride, this evening I cleaned up my studio, and poked at a few projects that are laying around. Its a start.
Usually I'm inclined to beat myself up for that sort of behavior (not that THAT helps any)
This time I will try a different path and acknowledge that my life has been developing on some different fronts lately.
Work has been changing for me for the last year or so, its a good change, into a position of more responsibility, interaction, and new experiences (my first business trip last week). I feel as though some growth is taking place there on my part.
I've also started really paying attention to my diet for the first time in years. I am trying to lose a little weight... the pounds have been creeping up in the past couple of years.
And gain some fitness... as my activity level has dropped off the weight has gone up.
Nothing crazy or obsessive just less calories, more fiber and water, and more movement.
This does mean tracking food and being less passive about what I eat. More cooking and awareness of the choices I make. Making the time to get moving on a regular basis.
Its all a shift in priorities, and I have been negotiating it at the cost of artwork.
The artwork habit has been pretty wobbly for months now, I keep picking it up and putting it down.
I have a difficult time with balancing my life, I'm pretty good at "all or nothing" but all or nothing doesn't work equally well for all things. I tend to focus on one aspect of my life at the cost of everything else and it gets all out of whack.
So baby steps are called for to regain my stride, this evening I cleaned up my studio, and poked at a few projects that are laying around. Its a start.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Results of the burnout.The flame traveled along the pleat edges so in places the fabric is barely connected and one corner is completely detached.
This wasn't quite what I had planned, but I kind of like the result
I think it might be interesting to play with stitching it to a background (not green)
Maybe a red ground color... or magenta.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Experiments in Ombre: Part Ugh Revised
Here are the results of my overdyes on those icky Ombre experiments (I left the nice one as is) 
I may not be done with these, I am tempted to add more colors to the landscape.
Remember this one?
The Blob
Is now a butterfly (of sorts)
This one
Has become a nighttime landscape
And this disaster
Has been transformed into this
A detail
I may not be done with these, I am tempted to add more colors to the landscape.And possibly play with fire on one of the others.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)