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Keeping it normal.
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Message
Posted
I like most people have been through a period of finding it difficult to motivate. Over the past three or four week l seem to have come out of the doldrums, two things have helped one is I have re discovered my love of landscape painting. The other came about via the forum I contacted a fellow artist to offer some advice on watercolour painting, I won’t name the person as I don’t have their permission to do so , have not asked. The benefit has been great I think to us both as we contact each other every day , sometimes just general chat we also bounce ideas off each other. I can recommend this way of linking with someone who shares you love or art, would be better face to face but it is far better than I ever thought it would be and given that it came about without setting it up even better. It’s like a personal forum we share unfinished works etc.
Posted
Since our local art group ceased to be able to meet I have been setting a weekly challenge. It consists of circulating two photos a week for them to have a go at. I have used a few from copyright free web sites but in the main I use photos which the members send to me. At first there were a few problems as members (who are almost all retired) got used to using technology (replying to one and not the group, pictures upside down, pictures not cropped, etc etc) but that has all settled down now and is working well without much additional input from me.
Next week will be the 40th week - it's hard to believe it's been going on that long.
The only real problem for me is remembering to post the weekly challenge - it started out on a Tuesday and has crept back to Saturdays.
I have a great memory
I’m not a dumb thing
Can’t remember the last time
I forgot something.
Posted
It’s taken me quite a lot of courage to join to this thread. I like all of you struggle to keep things normal, whatever that is. Each day at the moment is a replay of the day before when I wake full of good intentions and these dissolve as the hours tick by. I retired in December last year and everyone said what are you going to do, I was full of ideas and especially exploring art after so many years of not. I failed to achieve my entry to Art college as a youngster and gave up altogether (my parents were not supportive of my dreams) so when I was finally free to do whatever I wanted it was such a joy to me. My daughter was the encouragement I had never received and the joining of POL was another big impetus. You have all been so lovely with your encouragement and kind comments.
Fast forward to the situation we now all find ourselves in. Where has my joy and excitement gone? Why is it so hard to put pencil or brush to paper? I have many hours in which to do so so what’s stopping me? That nagging doubt that I have carried with me since so many years before, those derisory comments , the expectation of failure, I could go on but I guess you get the drift.
I have to stop there or you’ll get “war and peace”
I have no answers.
Posted
Unlike most of us on the forum it would seem, since all this happened, I’ve been totally focused and even more motivated to paint! I’m not sure why this should be, but I’m not complaining!
I’m generally in the studio by 7.30am latest, and feel that I’ve achieved some decent creative stuff over this period, certainly saleable stuff anyway! Not all of it of course, I also manage to turn out rubbish at regular intervals with little difficulty!
But more importantly, I’ve kept busy with the one thing that I am truly passionate about, that’s painting, and not allowed myself to dwell too much on all the negative things going on, hard as that can be at times...
I’ve also been fortunate to have had features to write for The Artist magazine, six in all, and believe me these do keep you busy, They have been very welcome at this time.
Subject matter had been my main issue, I’ve only been out and about up my lane and so on, no plein air work to speak of. This has highlighted the importance of keeping sketch books, they’ve been a godsend to me for inspiration.
Posted
Oh Hilary that made me laugh so much, war and peace. I wasn't encouraged by my parents and always wanted to be an electrician. From the age of 7 I figured out how to take plugs apart and rewire them. Of course, I then started taking everything apart to see if I could put it back together again. They had to hide all the tools when I was a child. As for art, I didn't learn the basics at school, the art teacher refused to have me in his class. Not that I was very naughty but I was a joker and clown and disrupted the class. I had to sit with the headmistress in her office and study geography, that was her field. I think she nearly passed out when I come first in the geography exams with top Mark's. She offered a huge amount of encouragement after that. Would I have change anything, yes, I would have behaved in the art lesson then I wouldn't be learning it all now.
Posted
I'm glad that's worked out for you, Dixie. Sounds a good idea.
The lady who runs our art group has been doing pretty much the same thing, Michael. She's had a good response, all via email, of course. But there are several people who haven't joined in. I don't know their circumstances, it's a U3A thing...not all older people can be bothered with computers and such.
I know that feeling well, Hilary. I can only suggest you start something. I find if I have something half-finished on my desk it acts as a prompt, leaving my desk neat and tidy with everything back in its box prompts me to sit in an armchair and watch Netflix. Have a go, don't worry about the outcome, it's the 'doing' that counts.
That's interesting Alan. I had this notion that people who are producing to sell would be more grounded. It sounds like that's true in your case. Great. As I make no attempt to sell, that's one reason to keep at it that I don't have. No excuse of course, with all this time on my hands I should be doing more art, and I'm not. I've had a lot of false starts, but false starts are better than no starts. I get the fact that you can't get out doesn't help, most I my ideas came from interacting with people, and that's not happening. Maybe when we come out of this, I'll have a look at my false starts and think they're not too bad.
Posted
Actually Lew, I don’t paint to sell in the main, it’s just that I have an outlet to supply, not that sales have been anything to shout about lately!
It wouldn’t make any difference to my output if I never sold another one, I just have to paint most days, if I don’t, the day feels wasted somehow...
Posted
I have a few ideas on the go at the moment although none that I would show as they weren’t very successful. I just need to give myself a kick up the posterior and a good talking to. This forum is so great because the dark mood I was feeling earlier has lessened just by seeing things through others eyes. I am also looking forward to my art group reconvening online in a couple of weeks. Thanks All.
Posted
Well, Hilary and Denise, I had the opposite from my parents when I was school age - they encouraged me to continue in the one thing I was good at - art (they were both school teachers, so it was kind of expected that us offspring would go to university). I did the school exams at 16 and 18, then a foundation art course, then went to do a degree at art college..... hated it and left after 1 year, and went to work in a bar!
After that, the parents were quite disappointed in me for a very long time!
Posted
I agree about the forum, Hilary. It can help in many ways. Often it will surprise you. When I posted this I was trying to gee myself up, and thought maybe I'd get a couple of responses and that would be it. In fact the various responses have provided the impetus I was after. I'll be rethinking what I'm going to do in the New Year.
Your early departure from Art College hasn't harmed you, Helen. Your work is wonderful.
I mentioned at the start of this I was intending to do a series of 'historical characters' (The Napoleon and Josephine example). I've done four now, and don't like any of them. Some bits are OK, I think my approach is wrong. I'll pack that idea in, maybe I'll come back to it...maybe not. Not a complete waste of time, because it kept me drawing. This is the last pic I did for it - a Victorian Inventor -I might come back to that one. So this fella is temporarily unemployed.
I wish everybody a fabulous New Year, health and happiness for us all.
I wish everybody a fabulous New Year, health and happiness for us all.
Posted
Wishing everybody a Happy New Year with my hope that we'll all get our jabs asap and that 2021 will be a lot better than 2020 - to which I and many others say good riddance! Cheers, off to fill my glass with a good malt and keep it topped up until after midnight (Tier 4 so nowhere open to go to anyway).