Studio Sessions, Lately.

I’ve been experiencing a pleasant flow—a wave of creativity that’s rising…building…ready to be released when the opportunity presents itself.

My studio sessions have been far and few in between—definitely not as consistent as I would like, and certainly nothing like my art practice in the past.

Yet, paradoxically, I believe its been a good thing.

Ideas need time to contemplate, resonate, so they can be adequately translated.

We idolize action, yet misunderstand procrastination.

We misunderstand rest.

Many times we receive answers to problems within our dreams.

Many times we feel most ready and motivated to work after a well-deserved vacation.

Solutions flow to us, easily and without effort, when we stop beating our heads against the proverbial wall.

Since motherhood, I’ve been forced to contemplate my works often—sit with my thoughts and ideas, opposed to immediately grabbing paint and materials to “go to town” in the studio.

My brain is still working in the background—while I am preparing breakfast for my family, jotting down my to do list for the day / week, watching YouTube videos of virtual art exhibitions, writing down my general ideas in several notebooks and scrap pieces of paper.

I am working but not always in the studio.

However, when I do have the chance for a studio session or two, I now go in with a purpose and with more clarity than I have in the past.

This is the benefit of slowing down and switching mental gears.

A constraint or limitation can induce better, different results, because it forces adjustment, pivot, and experimentation.

A road block forces us to take a detour and explore a new path—a path that will induce new trains of thought, new ideas, new actions / reactions and most importantly, new results.

Within the last three years, my studio practice has transformed.

What I’ve noticed is that I am still ‘working’ even if I am not painting.

My brain is still thinking, marinating with ideas, and constantly thinking and studying art.

This is actually my first time in a long time where I am, really spending time, thinking about art more than actually doing it.

However, the biggest difference is, when I do sit for a session, I have specific paintings I am working on.

I pick right up from where I left off, knowing exactly what materials to grab, and knowing what aspect of the work I am working on for that session.

This may sound like this should be normal, but…this is…not how I worked before. (lol)

In the past, I would enter the studio and work on whatever I felt like working on that day, with several different paintings in progress, with new ones added according to my mood.

These works were very expressive, and subconscious.

I would paint all day, as much as possible, until I got tired.

Now, with limited, uninterrupted time, when I go in for a session, however long or short…I make it count.

I am working towards completion. I am working to achieve something.

I have patience—something I am not known to have. :)

I’m not rushing—because I’ve been thinking about the piece for days, seeing it often as I pass through rooms, entering and exiting for other matters.

When I sit for the session, I’m fine-tuned to the subtle task required within that moment.

Neither process is better than the other; both practices inspire different results.

And taking a different path, made all the difference.