Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Getting the Work Done


Colorado Springs artist, Laurel Seibels Justice has been doing a wonderful series on how artists work in the midst of life as we know it. Her latest profile tells a bit about my process.

"On how artists get their work done: this is my friend Julie. She is in that stage of life where aging parents and traveling with a retired husband can be distractions (enjoyable distractions, but distractions nonetheless) to getting to the studio. When asked how she handles the time away from her studio, she replied, “Being away breaks my focus, and it takes me a few days to regain it.  When I feel unfocused and unready,  I drag my unfocused and unready self to the studio and get to work; gradually, my head gets back in the game." This idea confronts the myth that artists are some sort of exotic creatures who just exude inspiration and motivation to do their work any ole' time. It's been my experience that there's a lot of "showing up" in spite of "everything" going on, that brings art/music/writing to life. Here she is showing up to the sketchbook doing thumbnail value studies for her next painting."



Speaking of getting the work done, I'm continuing to work on a series of what I plan to be 100 small paintings.  Here's a detail shot from one.