Thursday, December 16, 2010

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!

2 comments:

  1. I remember your oil paintings! Lots of barns! I can't believe I forgot about that. This sketch book is a return to things you have long loved, but perhaps left on pause. Very cool. Another barn painting wouldn't be a bad idea either.

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  2. I don't see barns in my future but who knows. Each month there will be a new challenge presented and I am looking forward to it. Tomorrow is the first challenge. Branching out trying new mediums - watercolor, acrylic, pencil, ... I have already gained from just signing up. We'll see what's next.

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