When Life Gets in the Way of Art... Don't Panic!.. 6 Strategies to Help

Happy event...Wedding of eldest daughter!

The summer break is in full swing. No classes until mid September, and I should be spending long productive days in the studio... except I'm not. Don't get me wrong. Life is good. Our eldest daughter got married last weekend. Our middle daughter has returned after over a year teaching English at a primary school in Mexico, and with us for the summer is her delightful boyfriend. As we visit local areas of interest it is as if we are seeing with fresh eyes, which can be a bonus. We have been visualizing and planning a new kitchen which is now ordered and likely to be installed in September... So lots going on, but none of them really to do with art. Potentially this is a period of art-making drought and it would be easy to hit the panic button. But I am now starting to get comfortable with the idea that creativity often waxes and wanes in cycles. And sometimes life just gets in the way. It is how we view this hiatus and what we do with it that is important.

1. Stay connected by using a sketchbook. Small portions of time can be treasured by opening the pages of your sketchbook and quickly recording something... anything... an idea, a view, a person, an object or even just jotting words, reminders, an experience.

Rodney in pencil and watercolour, from a photo
- a real character, full of life and fascinating stories...

Quick pencil sketch on another P&R bus journey.

Overcast, breezy day on Hunstanton Beach.
Note the minimalist art equipment I had in my handbag so I could work on location.

2. Visit inspiring events and make notes. During this period I visited Art in Action in Oxford with my family on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year to date!!! Lots of amazing creative arts and crafts people, so plenty to inspire... My sister and I attended a free one hour lecture about writing, all rather timely as I have been harbouring vague notions of sometime writing a book (non fiction and yes arty!) but all ideas still very nebulous... Out came the sketchbook for scribbled notes during the talk.

Notes made during a short lecture titled 'The Principles of Writing'.

3. Visit art exhibitions, even if a 'whistlestop tour'. Whilst visiting Norwich Castle Museum with family we did pop into the current exhibition about birds. This was a fascinating insight into how birds have inspired art in many forms and the clean lines of one sculpture particularly called out to me. A few pencil lines in the sketchbook and a note made of the sculptor so I can look online later were enough. I also nipped into the contemporary bird exhibition and again made note of artists whose work intrigued me... which neatly leads onto the next point.

The briefest note can be made and researched online later...

4. Research art / artists / blogs / videos online. Keep your interest alive by looking online and following some of those threads that take you on a tangent - I have discovered many new exciting talented people, jotted down notes on things worth trying and watched techniques being demonstrated. Plenty of ideas for my own work and/or classes in the future.

One of the things I keep track of is ideas and internet searches in my gorgeous 'fauxdori'.
 Look this up online (or midori) to read about this resurgence of 'commonplace' style books. 

  
5. Stay involved with your local art Association. If you belong to an art association, club or society try to stay involved. Submit recent work if possible for current exhibitions, attend social events and enjoy spending a short time with other artists. As a Committee member I was responsible for compiling the invigilation rota for the West Norfolk Artists Association Summer Festival Exhibition, although I was unable to assist with the hanging of the work this year. However I was back in Norfolk for the Preview Evening and manned the Enquiry/Sales desk to make up for it!

Recent painting exhibited in
WNAA Summer Festival Exhibition July 2014

 6. Take time out for 'art day' or even a short course. Earlier in the summer break I did seize the opportunity to be a volunteer for Tara Leaver as she wanted to work one-on-one with people who had an issue they would like help with. She is training to be a Creative Counsellor and is currently working under the guidance of Eric Maisel. I was delighted when she accepted me for the four week session with my proposal of wishing to find a way to create animal 'non portraits' (as we decided to call them). The sessions were all conducted via email with photos of work created as evidence of the processes / techniques tried during this period. Although Tara's work is very different to my own, her blog and words of encouragement / motivation / guidance were invaluable and I hope that the experience was mutually beneficial. I certainly never expected an instant answer to an ongoing issue I have periodically tackled for years but I have definitely felt a shift in vision and attitude and (when I get more time) new avenues to continue my explorations. A big heartfelt 'thank you' Tara for your insight, suggestions and feedback! Take a look at http://taraleaver.com and visit her blog...

Red squirrel 'pulled out' from wash of walnut ink
with sepia pen work for minimal detailing
and gouache to emphasize negative shapes.   

Blind contour drawing.
 Looking only at reference photo, as eyes travel around image,
the hand mimics this movement and drawing implement leaves traces as evidence.  

The technique below was tried first as a single drawing...

Charcoal sticks get placed between two sheets of paper...

The charcoal sticks are crushed - a mix of fine powder and small slivers.

Tip some of the charcoal mixture onto the drawing surface
and smear with hand to suggest essence of pose.

The end result - on this occasion a Perlin that looks rather pigeon-like, oh well...

The sequence below shows the stages of a drawing as several poses of the Perlin (Peregrine Falcon x Merlin) get superimposed over one another. Crushed charcoal is used to suggest the essence of the bird before a charcoal stick and eraser is used for mark making to suggest further detailing. The next image gets started over the top, but elements of previous work will act as a palimpsest and create a subtle influence. This drawing could never be repeated as freedom of marks, speed and intuition all come into to play to create such an energetic image. I loved this technique!  

1st stage

Result...

2nd stage...

Result...

3rd stage

Finished drawing. Such movement and energy - a non-portrait!

Detail of head showing tone, line and subtractive mark making.

Detail of mark making with eraser
- large sweeping movements of arm to produce corresponding marks in wing.

Well, that has brought us all up to date. Next week I have reclaimed a day for art by committing myself to a life drawing day in the village hall at Castle Acre. This will be an untutored session with a clothed model. As I haven't done any (human) life drawing for quite some time I am really looking forward to this and will let you know how I get on.

If you are also going through a time when art is having to take a bit of a 'back seat', I hope some of my suggestions will be useful and help you to carve out a few creative sessions, to maintain the connection with your creative self, and keep the panic at bay.