I am not an astrology follower; I tend to think of it as a diversion, a fun thing to check out after the fact and see if by chance it was correct. And my skeptical, scientific mind can come up with all sorts of explanations for any seeming correlation to my life. But I have to admit that there is one astrologer who has been eerily correct over the years: Rob Brezny of Free Will Astrology. Our indy newspaper here in town carries his column and I've always looked forward to seeing if he's been spying on me lately. This last month he certainly has! Each of the last four weeks he has been right in tandem with my life.
My horoscope for this week talked about how hard I've worked and how I have gotten a "taste of victory" over my "old bugaboos" but Mr. Brezny pointedly asks am I going to stop there because it is comfortable or am I going to push myself to complete success. Whether he is really able to see my future or not, he does bring up a very good point. Lately I have indeed felt that I have at last reached a comfortable level of achievement over my personal ghosts and demons. Hurrah! -But this does have a down side. This week in particular, I have not been pushing myself as hard as I had been. When pain and fear are nipping at your heels, taking chunks out of your calves and threatening to pull you down into the feeding frenzy, you run and you run hard, but when they are not the force driving you forward it is much easier to get lazy, much easier to ease up on the effort.
This is no less valid a point in my artistic life, either. A few days ago I had my goal of 25 paintings in 3 months in sight, easily achievable, and yet here I am a few days after my goal date and I'm only just finishing Painting 24 and haven't even started Painting 25. What the heck happened??? I could come up with all sorts of excuses: too tired, too much sugar, still recovering from the MIL, freelance work, etc., but the bottom line is I didn't do it and I could've. There was nothing really stopping me except me. Live and learn.
Painting 24 was a bit difficult. I've included one version of it below that I just wasn't satisfied with. (Truth be told, I'm not satisfied with the final one either). I see so many watercolor artists produce these beautiful rich dark backgrounds with smooth textures. I wanted that for this painting, and then to have the bird and groups of mangrove leaves absolutely light up in the places where the sun was the strongest. I feel like it ended up rather drab. I also found myself getting overwhelmed by each individual leaf and losing track of where I was supposed to be painting each one. I've come a long way, bu I've still got a long way to go...
This is no less valid a point in my artistic life, either. A few days ago I had my goal of 25 paintings in 3 months in sight, easily achievable, and yet here I am a few days after my goal date and I'm only just finishing Painting 24 and haven't even started Painting 25. What the heck happened??? I could come up with all sorts of excuses: too tired, too much sugar, still recovering from the MIL, freelance work, etc., but the bottom line is I didn't do it and I could've. There was nothing really stopping me except me. Live and learn.
Painting 24 was a bit difficult. I've included one version of it below that I just wasn't satisfied with. (Truth be told, I'm not satisfied with the final one either). I see so many watercolor artists produce these beautiful rich dark backgrounds with smooth textures. I wanted that for this painting, and then to have the bird and groups of mangrove leaves absolutely light up in the places where the sun was the strongest. I feel like it ended up rather drab. I also found myself getting overwhelmed by each individual leaf and losing track of where I was supposed to be painting each one. I've come a long way, bu I've still got a long way to go...
1st attempt
2 comments:
There's a better motivator than fear, young woman!
As to your painting(s) - I don't think you're finished. Good back to your background and add more darks. If you don't like the painting, you've nothing to lose, do you?
I think you did well with your goal. Wish I could be as ambitious as you with the amount of work produced. Way to go for the number 24!
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