Change

It has been a rough couple weeks. My dog died, my cat got sick and had to go to the vet where he spent three days and ran up a huge bill. I found that the gallery where I show my work is going out of business. I am trying to remind myself to breathe. Just put one foot in front of the other. This too shall pass, as some great sage said. I am alive and I am finding the inner reserve to deal with all this. My dog was with me ten years. She was a mutt, a hound. She had the strongest nose and used to drag me around the yard in search of food. And invariably she found it and I'd have to try to get it from her. I don't know how many times I had to clean up messes because what she picked up didn't agree with her system. She was not an apartment dog. She wanted more than anything to spend as much time outside as she could. She would drag me around to try to get as much time outside as she could. She was a great dog, her flaws made her just one more part of my life that wasn't always easy. But I wouldn't want it any other way. I miss you Paloma, I miss you trying to get at the mailman and your habit of going after those you thought might not have my best interests at heart. You were a good dog. And I miss you more than I can say.

A Balanced View

Lately I have such a difficult time with self-criticism. Willing to make imperfect art and accepting it as a necessary part of growth is difficult for me. It is so easy to get into a rut and keep on putting out the same kind of work. It is accepted , therefore it must be okay. When do we get to the point where we are willing to take risks and try something new? I wish that it were possible to get others viewpoints. I know that other people experience the rut thing, but what do they do to get out of it? My partner is patient and supportive, and I get good advice, but I still do not feel good enough to try to step out into new art experiments. When much younger I only copied other artists work. It wasn't until I got to art school that I began doing my own work. School is a great place to try out new ideas, that is what it is there for. But what do you do to make new art just for the sake of stepping out into the unknown?