I allow far too many things to get in the way and then start beating myself up about a lack of diligence . . . does this sound like you? Or perhaps you’re much more diligent that I am, your ability to persevere is stronger than mine. Thinking of Yoda’s wise words “do or do not, there is no try” I will do and write this post, and next week I will write another. After next week I will either do or do not but I know my limitations. Even the draft for this post has been waiting to be completed for almost a month.
The “Mindscapes” exhibition last October/November was successful and I had plans for what I wanted to do next however they fell into disarray and I did diddly-squat for some weeks . . . and then some weeks more until I got fed up with myself, got some help and worked my way out of the Miasma of Bleah. I made some goals and went from woah to go with a 100 day challenge.
I decided that for me to do something daily for 100 days would be to invite failure but to focus on producing 100 small pieces of work over 100 days would be achievable.
My goal was 100 10x10cm encaustic works over the 100 day period and limit my colour palette to black, white, yellow ochre, Payne’s grey, and deviated just a little. I could work in a series, experiment and build toward mastery, and most importantly, play. There were 10 artists involved in the challenge and exhibition which added to my commitment as it seems I can let myself down and not others but that’s another story.
100 10x10cm encaustic works for the “100s & 1000s exhibition at Gallery on Guyton Whanganui
I was interested in how the other artists approached the challenge. Some did something daily for 100 days resulting in perhaps 15 works, others focused on 1 work each day, another combined her efforts over the 100 days into one piece (a small bound book of tea bags from a daily cup of tea, sometimes drunk alone, sometimes with company).
So now I’m back into making . . . a little pottery purely because I haven’t done anything for almost 40 years, and stitching.
And I’m moving. I’m leaving the beach for a delightful small city and a home across the road from a river. I’m questioning how I want to live for the next 5 to 10 years, what do I want to take with me . . . physically and metaphorically. More on that later.
I’m resetting in more ways than one.
late start studio 