There are times when the work just flows, and times when it
doesn't, as creative people generally know and experience. For seven weeks now,
I've been painting for fifteen hours or more each week, showing up in the
studio on a daily basis, and the practice has become an established habit, which was my
original goal. (Yay! Check that one off the list!) As time goes by, I
experience both days when the work flows and days when it doesn't. Because I
know I'll be back tomorrow, I don't panic when things don't go well. Nor do I take it for granted when the process flows and the
results are pleasing. I pretty much know that it probably won't happen two days
in a row, but it happens often enough that I don't get discouraged.
I would like to figure how what it is that makes things go well
when they do. Am I more relaxed? I don't think so. Do I have a different
attitude, for example curiosity and playfulness rather than determination and
focus? I don't think so, either. Do I have more of a plan for what I do, or
less of one? Neither. Do I paint more quickly, more instinctively, more
carefully, more casually, more daringly, more cautiously? I can’t say that any
of these characteristics are consistently present when the process flows, nor
when it doesn’t. Whatever happens, just sort of happens.
If I can’t identify what makes things flow – or not – the
implication is that I will never be able to count on the process going well.
Books and magazines are full of articles about how to get the process flowing,
from carefully planning and executing to relaxing and letting things go, and
numerous methods in between. My personal tendency is to try to note what
techniques work, and when, to achieve some effect that I want, and to
consciously know what I am doing. This is much of what my hours in the studio
are spent doing: experimenting and then documenting the successes.
But if I can’t control the flow, I would still like to know how to
encourage it, if such a thing is possible. At present, about all I can do is
show up and have faith that it might happen. Maybe someday I’ll find a hook
that helps it happen on a consistent basis.
Another salient issue related to this phenomenon is how to make
progress when the materials aren't cooperating. I am gradually learning
tendencies to avoid (my obsession this past week has been about piling up paint too
thickly). Looking for danger signals as a painting progresses is a good method
for avoiding major problems, but it is inevitable that the learning process be
full of problem solving. I’ve done a lot of dissolving and scraping this past
week, and it has been something of a breakthrough that I have successfully
brought to conclusion two paintings that in earlier stages had been “ruined”. I
do generally have a vision – if a vague one – of what I want to produce, and in
many ways these days it is just a question of how much revision it will take
to get there.
The image above is of a much revised 24” x 30” piece that I have
declared to be finished. The bottom section is thicker than I like in some areas, but I have
reworked it so many times that I finally declared, “DONE!” I think it will do.
On the other hand, I can always scrape it down again….
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