We have been so incredibly lucky in Australia to have had very few cases of Covid 19 and are now navigating our way out of minimal shutdowns. I am extremely aware as I write this post, that so many countries are still being devastated by this illness and I wish you and your family safe passage through this crisis.
I can't remember where I heard or read the following words and wish I had jotted down the original author so I could thank them. These words have been my shadow over the last two months of stay at home rules and I want to share their wisdom.
Such great words for this time we find ourselves in.
This Covid crisis has given me ample time to REFLECT on my art business. I haven't been painting as much as usual, with a number of reasons halting my mojo, but mostly because I have nowhere to show it or sell it at the moment and it's all felt rather irrelevant given what the world has been going through. Exhibitions and art prizes are cancelled and my art galleries have all been closed and let's face it, art is a luxury item, not many people are able to stretch their finances to hang art upon their walls when they are worrying about health and employment.
Pondering (REFLECT) has become my new art time. It's been cathartic (and a little confronting) to think deeply about what I really want from my art... more licensing and illustration work? More still-life or water art or animals? I have so many avenues and genre that it has been confusing me to which area I should devote the most time and energy. This reflection stage has made me realise that my art has been meandering along in a direction that has been fun and enjoyable but has left me a little unfulfilled; basically, it just hasn't challenged me enough. My spark and mojo have suffered. I've finally realised that what I want is more conceptual and thought driven pieces, still pretty, but not JUST pretty.
In the last few weeks, I've moved into my RESET phase; drawing, sketching and jotting down ideas, words and thoughts that may eventually become paintings. I've felt excited to be scribbling down all the ideas that have been flooding my brain....some so ridiculous they may never see a paintbrush, but at least they are out on paper! I've bought new art supplies, tried new canvas, paper, pencils and inks that I've never tried before. I've played with mark making and basically have tried to avoid doing what I've always done. This has been a great time to experiment.
This week has seen my first foray into the EMERGE stage. Yesterday I had my best paint session in months, where I lost track of time and the paint just flowed with such ease from my brush. Such an incredible place to be and I have realised how important the reflect and reset has been to my work.
I'm hoping to keep using these three powerful words - REFLECT, RESET, EMERGE at the forefront of my art practise; making time to regularly reflect and reset so I can continue to put forward my best work.
Let me know how you have moved your art practise through this time...I'm always interested in the psychological aspects of making art.
Funnily enough, I've actually titled one of my previous oil paintings 'Reflection', way back in 2014 and for which I one several prizes. I feel like it has been one of my best paintings to date, and was painted with thought and yes...reflection. Go figure. You might like to read about it here. Though I'm not selling the original, prints to any size are available. Email me for more details.
Follow my art daily on instagram and facebook and receive my newsletter every few months by signing up below. (Believe me...I'm seriously remiss with sending my newsletter, but when I do send it, its awesome!)
Mia x
