Being Inspired and stimulated

Subjects that seem to cycle there way around and around again. With the falling in love with our creative work and life again...it's that what Spring does to us, all of us living breathing beings on this planet...well I thought it did.  And I can't help but feel anxious about it. (young child in me want't it NOW!)

I'm pretty blessed to have a few things going for me already, The same things were going a week or so ago too...I just didn't see it...Crazy as it sound I always am grateful for the crappy times I go through...there is always a good lesson to learn...but I turned away from it, some would say...walked away from what is a steady in my life. I stopped looking at the simple things with awe, My attitude had taken a dippty-do dive right in the shit-ter...sorry but that's the truth.  A combination of sort.  Did I know I was going there?  Heck no...did I want to?  I don't think any one in their right mind want's to, so what did you do to get through it...?

I seem to set things up in advance, (years of working the artist way...always have a few things stirring and so you can keep moving forward) ...at first I thought maybe the stacking rock series was too much for me with all the other wonderful directions I seem to go in daily...as of thinking that it was too much to add to what I had going on...I prepared my wood panels, tape on the sides and gave the wood top a coat of brown/black paint and then coated them with polymer medium so they would be ready for the mounting of the art.  There sat 12 wood panels read to go. A quick moment in the studio...  

Got my watercolor paper ready too taped off the sides and coated them.  Then I made paper for the rocks and background.  The whole time thinking about having this finished and driving them up to WI.   Heck it was all ready...for me...But where was I?   Surely not standing in my studio present.  I was off on some back road tangent of my past. Trying to figure out why I didn't have friends to call up and do something with.  Why no one calls to see what I'm up to....(why would they, I'm blasting it all over the social media, everyone can see,what the heck I'm up to)   Jumping to a flashback of my life....dare I say I might have got stuck there for a little while...OK I'll take that...But all this was going on...my little artists drama, I know all to well to take to the creative surface...so I showed up...and keep showing up and before I know on Thursday, I had 9 pieces....

This launched a friendly sharing with my mentor about friends and what it might be like to have good friends and what I might need to do....and is it really all that big of an issue?   Some interesting conversation and awareness has come both of our ways. Grateful....

Well knowing that I went through something I found that I wanted to get back on track again and that's why I picked up the one book, by Gail McMeekin and at lunch yesterday...with "A friend"  I was give an article out of a magazine that I have and hadn't had a chance to read yet...so cool, The April/May issue of Professional Artist.   Some good stuff in there...whats funny is the one article about helping artist get though some stuff the gals name was Laura...well I had to read that.  What we can control and what we can't control in our lives....which goes parallel with what my mentor shared with me...From Success Coach Marilyn Suttle "Notice the difference between begin in control and needing control."

Rambling I know and got my fragile heart right out there on my sleeve....I've always been a emotional basket case and scrambling to make connections and understand and this is just another phase I'm going through...I share it because I know I'm not the only one out there going through something...

So back to the post title....Inspired and stimulated, I seem to need that, I'm kind of junkie about being inspired and stimulated...the weirdest things will do for me too. And that's why I grabbed the one book....because I knew that's were the words about falling in love with your work was in...

Here goes...I've always had a thing for paper, the sound of it tearing...and the edges that are left from the act of pulling away from itself. The hair like fibers sticking out... Oh so natural and imperfectly layered. As I've said it before and will say it again...I'm at the "Mercy of the Torn Papers Edge."  How I think I have control over the tear but one slight jiggle and it's off just ever so slightly.  Then the layering, tucking under and over each other, the process of making the papers, playing with the art materials...mucking things up, solving creative problems.  When I turn away from this simple but awesomeness that stimulates me all Hell breaks loose...I'm lost and have lost sight of the beauty in these details of creating.  I get the most delighted when I've coated a collage paper I created with the polymer in preparation for tacking down and the way I coat the papers isn't revealed till afterwards when I do a glazing and wipe it off  you can see my brush stokes but also areas that didn't get covered perfectly and that is where the real creative part of art  is for me in my work...the things that happen with out me even knowing it...I would like to think the Great Creative Spirit in the Blue blue sky had a hand at it...

Here from Gail's book..is this, challenge...."Spend some time this month "remembering" what captivates you about your work and renew your vows"

Well got a bit wordy this morning... Must be wanting to procrastinate cleaning the house...birthday party and company coming...tomorrow....Best Bust a move in the the Cleaning Groove.

Have to share...one of other favorite winged friends has made a strong come back to the feeder this year and that's the Chickadee's...so love them and quick they move and can hang up side down...happy to see them at the feeder today.