the shortest day of the year
So, it is December 21, the Winter Solstice today. I've noticed that people around me are being a bit more emotional than usual, and that I have been stuck artistically for the last couple of days. I could use that operation three weeks ago as an excuse, but I don't think that is the real reason. In fact, I'm not sure what the real reason is.
As I wrote a few days ago, it is rare for me to have the art equivalent of "writer's block", but I think I've got it right now. Yesterday, I stared at a large piece of white watercolor paper, and for the second day in a row, was less than productive. True, the project is big and can be intimadating, but that usually is not a problem for me. After doing a bit of sketching on the 5 foot wide art, I sat down on the couch and stared at the walls (although my studio walls, lined with comic books from the 1940s-60s is quite entertaining!), and felt tired. So, maybe whatever is affecting others around me this time of year is doing the same to me, and I'm just not officiallly recogniziing it.
When one is not feeling creative in a field that depends on that and a level of inspiration, what is one to do? Usually, I move on to other tasks, and to some extent I've done this over the last few days, assisting my wife in making some lovely events here to celebrate Chanukah and friendship. But I think I've run out of those tasks and it's time for me to force something to happen on that big, white piece of paper. Maybe this will have to be a case of "99% persperation and 1% inspiration". I think it's time to push myself a bit harder.
It's rainy and cold out there today. It is the shortest day of the year. A lot of people are experiencing "holiday angst". I'm not immune to all this, but I need to take that energy and channel it into making some great art. If I can't do this, then I'm less than a fine artist, because this is what artists do: they take the world around them as they perceive it, and turn it into art.
As I wrote a few days ago, it is rare for me to have the art equivalent of "writer's block", but I think I've got it right now. Yesterday, I stared at a large piece of white watercolor paper, and for the second day in a row, was less than productive. True, the project is big and can be intimadating, but that usually is not a problem for me. After doing a bit of sketching on the 5 foot wide art, I sat down on the couch and stared at the walls (although my studio walls, lined with comic books from the 1940s-60s is quite entertaining!), and felt tired. So, maybe whatever is affecting others around me this time of year is doing the same to me, and I'm just not officiallly recogniziing it.
When one is not feeling creative in a field that depends on that and a level of inspiration, what is one to do? Usually, I move on to other tasks, and to some extent I've done this over the last few days, assisting my wife in making some lovely events here to celebrate Chanukah and friendship. But I think I've run out of those tasks and it's time for me to force something to happen on that big, white piece of paper. Maybe this will have to be a case of "99% persperation and 1% inspiration". I think it's time to push myself a bit harder.
It's rainy and cold out there today. It is the shortest day of the year. A lot of people are experiencing "holiday angst". I'm not immune to all this, but I need to take that energy and channel it into making some great art. If I can't do this, then I'm less than a fine artist, because this is what artists do: they take the world around them as they perceive it, and turn it into art.
posted by Rich Sigberman at
9:52 AM
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