Practicing

 The last few days I've been gearing up for the Sketchbook Challenge.  I've been drawing a quilt pattern idea and have been amazed how relaxing this is!  Wanting to be "ready" and "equipped" for this challenge I've been reading the different comments made by others who are taking on this challenge. Many of them talk about mentally "freezing up" while staring at the blank white page.  I too thought I would be challenged by the blank page, or challenged by what to draw; surprisingly its not been difficult.

In fact as I was drawing, I started thinking about goals for 2011 and was playing with that idea. Goals for the new year are always something I think about as the current year ends.  Doesn't everyone?  Anyway, as I was pondering this idea of goals, one of the phrases used in the sea of activity/goals for 2011 is "right brain release" and "left brain restraint".  Katie Masopest has a drawing in one of her books that illustrates the many thoughts of the left brain uses to intimidate the right brain as the left brain fights for control.  Its really a fun picture.  So I've been enjoying this new freedom of releasing the right brain to play.  Losing oneself in play/creative work is very healthy.  Sounds crazy doesn't it?  I remember being at a quilt guild meeting where our evening speaker (a nurse) was sharing the many healthy results from allowing oneself the gift of "playing".  So "playing" will be one of my goals for 2011.

Another goal is to work on downsizing.  That means getting rid of things be it sharing, throwing, or regifting.  I've been praying that I will be enabled to let go.  I know that if I don't have the Lord's strength I will continue to hang on, and live with lots of clutter.  I don't want to do that.  So last night I was sorting through a few books to share with others.  I know its not 2011 yet, but I'm warming up! Though these aren't finished, I just want to document their progress for now:

A milestone

In just a few months, I will be 60 years old. This is a true milestone. In acknowledging this milestone also come a sense of my life's end. Should the Lord wait to return, I perhaps have 20+ years till I meet Him face to face. Life on this earth will be over. This is not to be a morbid thought but a thought which causes me to reevaluate my day to day activities. What kind leisure activities will I fill the next years of my life?

With this in mind, I find I can no longer ignore the desire that wells up within me to do more artistic activities. When I look at different works of art, something wells up within me to create art and I want to follow this. I've made lots of utilitarian items, and some very artistic. This is not to say that I won't make other utilitarian items. I'm just making a decision to create more art and to less utilitarian items. I just want to create some art.

This desire has been with me all of my life. As a child I use to walk around the house drawing different things. I clearly remember drawing a chest of drawers. Why I didn't draw something more creative, I don't know. I just longed to draw and so that was my subject. I clearly remember using pen and ink and drawing countless horses from a myriad of perspectives. (My father made a special box to hold all my art supplies. I watched him make the box for me. What a precious memory!) As a mother of young children, I took oil painting classes. (I always had to set my paintings toward the center of the table to keep little fingers away!) The subject of these pictures were barns or sheds in open fields. In recent years I took a design class from Jane Sassaman. I chose a bunch of thistles stuffed into a quart jar for my class project. I can't say I was successful but I thoroughly enjoyed studying and sketching that silly arrangement. I love to create.

So the decision has come. I want to use this next year to focus on creating art whatever form that will take. I have joined the Sketchbook Challenge which begins January 1, 2011. Such a perfect way to begin my new decade and direction. Until then, I'm drawing and thinking about art pieces I want to make. (I do have a few things in my studio that are calling to me, and no they aren't utilitarian). Not saying I will never make another utilitarian item; I'm just saying I'm wanting to focus on creating art whatever form it takes. It should be an interesting year!