New Work

In December my doctor put me on a new medication. My old medication caused me to gain over fifty pounds and eventually I developed diabetes. I was always tired and slept over twelve hours a day. I don't know if my creativity was affected, but found myself often too tired to do any work. So indirectly my creativity was affected. Since I started my new medication I stopped drinking sugared caffeinated soda. I cut 90% of the refined sugar out of my diet and started drinking nothing but water and vegetable juice. So far I have lost over twenty pounds. It hasn't been easy. Somedays I really crave soda. Especially those days when I am irritable and it seems the world just won't cooperate with my expectations. Since December I haven't created one painting. This bugs me but I have found myself doing an art journal every day and it has been consistent. There hasn't been a day that has been missed. In the past there would be small drawings in the margin of my journal and sometimes these would be embellished with colored pencil. Recently every days work is completed with small colored pencil drawings. A journal that began on January 11th was completed yesterday and drawings in the margins were all colored. Doesn't sound like much, but in the past I have never been able to consistently do it.
In January the shop where I sold my work quit selling my art when they went out of business. This a primary reason that I have not been doing my small watercolor drawings. I read somewhere that if a person begins to sell their work there is a reluctance to create unless it is for sale. Sounds kind of untrue, but in my case this seems to be the case. I find myself just doing small things for the sake of creating, but nothing that would find its way into a shop.

The Artists Muse

Sometimes it seems that ideas are just not coming fast enough, other times it seems you can't shut them off. Maya Angelou said that, "You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." I don't paint very often and I am often at a loss to explain why. There is the desire, but desire is not enough. I do have creative outlets. I journal every day and incorporate little color pencil drawings into the borders. So perhaps this should suffice. But there is always the desire to do more. There is always this thought that if one is not painting, one isn't really creating. I'm not sure why this is. Perhaps it just seems that painters get all the recognition, and draftsmen come in a distant second. I couldn't be an oil painter. Too many allergies. Solvents make me sick. But there has always been this desire to play like the big boys. To be able to create a beautiful piece of art that will stand the test of time. To have one's work in a major museum must be an awesome feeling. Robert Ryman paints white canvases. Blank white canvases. Seriously. So there is the sense that it is not all that it seems to be. Fame must have more to do with something other than absolute talent. I'm not saying that Robert Ryman isn't talented, it just seems that perhaps I am missing something. Robert Ryman's works end up in major museums and it is a puzzle to me as to what makes them a critical success.
All my life I thought draftsmanship was everything. If you couldn't draw, you weren't an artist. But there are a number of artists, good artists, who can't draw. Frank Stella is one. In my mind he is a good artist. Seeing his work for the first time at the Baltimore Museum of Art was inspiring. He works in a large scale, most work is metal, he uses enamel paints I believe, and his shapes are abstract. He is a sculptor. And a good one. His pieces are moving works of art. So how does one create such works and still not be able to draw? Most artists make technical drawings to work out any potential problems that might arise. How does Stella work? Where does he get his ideas? Do they just materialize out of thin air? How does he commit them to memory if he doesn't draw? I think it is clear that being a successful artist is more than just having a preconceived notion as to what art is.

A Brush With Darkness

hello. I haven't written for awhile. There is still creating going on , though perhaps a little slowly. The shop where I sell my work closed last week. Which means looking for new venues. I am a little nervous about approaching new owners. It has been a while since there was the need to sell myself. I have about half a dozen new works. Depression has been a problem. Just not much interest in creating. Spend a lot of time journaling and creating art journals. It is creating but not nearly as draining. Forty three days 'til Spring. It will be nice to see tree buds again.