For the past 3 months I have found myself so busy that getting the time away in the studio has been very difficult. Even as I sit here writing this blog post I am also fighting the demons in my brain who don't want to paint because I am just mentally tired. As a healthcare professional I find that mental exhaustion is a common theme when I come home from work. Finding that artist inspiration is a very challenging thing and no one (non-artists) seems to understand that I can't just turn it on whenever I like (oh how I wish I could). When I paint I must have inspiration to continue my quest in creating art. I have read countless blog posts and books that give advice on fighting artist block but I don't think of this as block. It upsets me as I know that continuing to paint is the only way I can grow as an artist.
So for the new year I am going to push myself even further by focusing on smaller paintings of 6 x 6 in., or 5 x 7 in. in hopes that I can force myself to paint at least 3 times weekly. I am also going to push myself to get to know my art community more so than I currently do. Asheville and Hendersonville do have art communities and groups that meet on regular basis but I can at least push myself to be with other artists who may kick start my inspiration each and every day so that I can complete. I recently took an art course back in Sept and I was the youngest person who attended by 30 years. Each of the other students around me had communicated to me how jealous they were of me because I was so young as they did not start painting until recently (these were good artists). I honestly had not even thought of that when I attended. Looking back on the class and their amazing painting skills, I can only think that mine in 30 more years will be even further advanced. I can only hope as I feel my skill level has greatly improved in recent years.
So Cheers to the new year, Cheers to getting more inspiration in December and beyond!
Never stop growing!