Dear reader,
Today only10 minutes painting or so: I have so many things to do before the holidays start that I don’t allow myself the time to paint longer. I took a piece of magazine paper, and used the golden liquids and the necolor II crayons.
Yesterday I read something in the newsletter of Nancy Hillis:
The single biggest mistake I see artists making is not cultivating an attitude of experimentation in their work. At its essence, this is an issue of not trusting yourself to search and find your way as you paint and not allowing for, in fact judging harshly, the emergence of “ugly” paintings that are so essential to the birth of new work.
The remedy for this fear-based malady of feeling lost, repeating others work and not finding your own expression is trusting that if you allow yourself to explore and experiment without judgment that your style will find you. Stop trying so hard but rather adopt an attitude of allowing and watch the magic of your own unique gesture unfold and be expressed on your canvas. Celebrate your so called “ugly” paintings because they are gifts that will guide you to nascent, as yet un-birthed work waiting to be explored.
I can’t agree more, and I hope this little drawing will be one of a long series of small experiments.
bye!
Simone
Thanks Dotty, we’ll keep in contact!
Simone, I get Nancy’s newsletter, too, and her words resonate strongly with me and remind me to stay true to painting from the inside out—an important reminder to me right now. I am grateful for the experiments you’ve been making and posting recently; they make a concrete companion to Nancy’s words and keep me encouraged. Though I’ve been posting at my blog this week, I actually did the painting last week, and have been on ‘holiday’ while my daughter and her family have been visiting.
All good!
Much more to share, but not right this moment.