Marching Along To the Beat of My Own Drum

Heya kids,

As an artist, sometimes I find that I have a difficult time streamlining my interests, dreams and schemes. I am always reflecting back on what worked and didn't work and trying to come up with ways to indulge every fantasy and whim at once. The problem is that I want to streamline, I want to make everything seamlessly coalesce so it is easier to manage.

Unfortunately that's like trying to lasso the wind to make your tea cool down faster...

I shouldn't be trying to micro manage myself, I know from experience that I do not enjoy being micro managed (who does, honestly), and the need to control the outcome takes away from a lot of the inherit joy that creating brings. 

I still do it, I am just aware that I am doing it, sooner rather than later in some cases, the reverse in others...

I suppose that's growth for you!

Like the seasons, following the ebb and flow of your creativity gives you a lot of freedom. I try to stick to a routine that gets me making something on a daily basis, following a bit of structure helps me maintain my goals. (Otherwise I am set adrift and who knows what chaos might ensue.) I try to keep things loose and have some compassion for myself as well, knowing that life gets in the way and I am prone to flights of fancy.

I do create on a daily basis, some days I get carried away on a piece from a major project, others I am able to churn out several new ideas in one afternoon. Sometimes I need a new project to start on but just as often following the same patterns gets the work done as well.

One thing I have noticed though is that having a challenge can really help me get out of a rut and brings out new creations that would never have surfaced without it!

Recently, I was gifted an amazing gift from my spouse, 12 books. 

One for each month of the year. Each book was lovingly wrapped and labeled. At the beginning of each month, I unwrap the book and see what's inside. They have all been art books. Completely different from one another. I have been an artist since I was a child and have been gifted books like these from caring family members before but this has taken that concept and elevated it to a whole new level! I love it so much!

I am three months in now and I can't talk about it enough.

It started out with a watercolour basics book. Admittedly the basics can be boring and feel condescending but with the time constraints of a month and a brand new set of tools, I was intrigued and ready to take on the challenge! I worked and worked on watercolours, all month long. I did so many pieces. Some paintings weren't great, some were awesome! It was just the kind of challenge I needed. 

When the month ended, honestly  I didn't want to give up the watercolours! Which was not something I have ever felt before.

Next month was a basics book on "cute" critters. So away I went! I have enjoyed the simple shapes and relished in the low effort in coming up with something to draw. They have been great warm ups for bigger projects and great for colour studies and poses. I also drew things I hadn't before and I didn't need to sit online looking for reference images and getting distracted. A very cleansing, 'back to the material world,' analog process. 

Now this month is back to watercolours but with a bit of an upgrade, a book on creating more realistic magical worlds and creatures, so we shall see what I learn next!

I am excited to share this idea with you and the artwork that comes from it, I hope to get some of the best pieces up in the shop soon as well as on my social media feeds. So stay tuned!

I feel like ensuring you have given your brain a bit of a challenge makes life much more interesting and worthwhile. I think that with things being difficult out there right now we want a lot of our lives to be easier, more streamlined, more manageable. I totally get that. But make sure you are allowing yourself that room to learn and take up space and grow. Feel the joy that that creates for you. You may notice that you don't mind being a little less in control after all.

Love,

 The Goat