You would think that with months of social isolation, and now the cold of the season driving us even further indoors, with quietness abounding (and resounding) – that the itch for activity would be hollering to be scratched. That’s not happening for me. It seems that perhaps, over these months, the capacity for quietness has expanded. Is the restlessness that’s so endemic to us humans getting settled by the current necessity? Sticking close to home, walks in the neighborhood, less trips into town – now just seem like the natural way to flow. I am finding a new sense of discipline in quiet routine.
And how’s it going in the studio? Slow. I am exploring my approach to work through discussion with my artist cohorts: Michelle Hagewood, Sally Warren, Shirley Scheier, Dana Weir, Rufina Garay and Martha Worthley. These “Artists Connect” women are another unexpected blessing bestowed by this distanced time. Formed in the early days of “Stay Home”, we get together via Zoom regularly and share work, process, inspiration, ideas, books. It is informal but focused. Honest but supportive. Real. From these artists, I am seeing the wisdom of measured and intentional steps along the art practice path – to listen, adjust, and maintain the discipline of craft. Don’t settle for done fast. Trust that the art will emerge, again and again and again, in fact, better for the time and practice.
I am working simultaneously in two mediums: oils (in the form of oil bar and oil paint from tubes) on Rives BFK paper, and also with my characteristic medium, acrylic enamel on panel. I love to see how the medium has a voice in creation, especially interesting as I know acrylic enamel so well, and working with oils is newer for me (although from 1999-2003, I worked in oil bars on paper for “Pomegranates”, “Adolescence” and a figurative series). The current work is based on poems by Linda M. Robertson, a wonderfully evocative poet – I read a piece over and over and have it at my elbow as I paint, looking to expand the experience rather than illustrate it. Stretching into non-representational abstraction. I paint one poem at a time, with multiple explorations in oils, and single paintings in acrylic enamel. Slow.
I don’t know where this series is going, but it is going somewhere! Larger format? A book? A small series, a large series, a reading? Perhaps a certain restlessness does help the artist after all, nudging us toward the shaping of the work, so we can grab our hats, hurry on out the door and present it to the world.
Online teaching through Port Townsend School of the Arts continues with Make It Abstract 3 class series, starting January 28. Once a month, I lead Mindfulness Practices for Art-Making (January 19, February 16, March 16), helping connect and ground ourselves, using art-making’s tactile presence. Keep an eye out for additional offerings. You can see my paintings at PtSA Grover Gallery, and Northwind Arts Center in downtown Port Townsend. (Northwind closed for the month of January).
Also catch Michelle Hagewood’s class series at PtSA on creating fantastical landscapes with acrylic ink, starting in February.