Wabi-Sabi Dumpster Inspires Painting

This is one of the hardest paintings I've done in a long time. It has gone through so many incarnations you wouldn't believe it. I've layered and scraped back, incised, slathered on, rubbed in, and all but wrestled the piece to the ground. This is what it looks like now, but a bit blurry because the cold wax is still wet.

Realms    Cold Wax, Oil, Pigment on Panel

  
 I was frustrated several times during the process of making this piece and I felt bad about "wasted" paint and wax that got scraped off. The painting turned out to be inspired by the wabi-sabi photos of the rusted dumpster shown in my last post. I could have just done that to begin with, right?

Probably not. If I'd set out to re-create what nature and time had wrought on the rusted metal dumpster, it might have looked fake and artificial. This piece contains real scoring, wounds, peeling, and abrasions incurred as I struggled with the materials. We are both bruised from the engagement, but resting comfortably now, as old friends.

Realm                   Detail 1

Realm                     Detail 2

More on Project Re-inspiration.

I really appreciate the comments on the previous post about the creative process, blocks, inspiration, etc. Right now my progress is sidelined by a head cold, but I was able to complete my assignments from Lesley Riley over the weekend. I did the three pieces she assigned and journaled about the process. Here are a few excerpts:

"I enjoyed the process of this first piece a little. I was also aware of wanting it to be finished in a hurry. Since my settings are "high" and "off", I had to go into "high" to do the assignment..."

"I notice that the second piece is less tentative and more vibrant than the last. I felt more positive when I made it...I realize I have let myself get so caught up in the business aspect of art that I forgot about the art itself. ..I keep learning that I have to be myself and any attempts not to end badly..."
 
"For the third piece I found myself wanting to work in collage. I decided to take a break for the assignment and collage this journal's cover. In the middle of the process I decided that the cover would be the third piece. It went fast and intuitively and was more fun than the two previous pieces."

"It's such a strange experience to make art for my eyes only, as Lesley assigned. I want to show it off: "Look what I did..."

After I did the assignments I tried one of my favorite prompts. I cut a stack of rough squares at random from the middle of a magazine. (Home decoration magazines work well.) Then I went through the stack, looking for images that could be a jumping off point for an art piece. I tried to look at shapes and colors and to ignore what the square might actually depict. I glued the squares on the back of my journal. I will pick one to inspire my next piece. Try this at home! You could use one of my "squares" from the picture below if you like! I'll let you know later which one I pick for my inspiration.

I'd love to see any results or read any reports from your trying this technique!

Crossroads

As an artist, counselor, and art instructor, I am fascinated by the creative process. I just finished Seth Apter's book, The Pulse of Mixed Media, and found it to be an unusual and helpful book. Seth, who is a psychologist as well as an artist, asked a hundred mixed media artists about their process and feelings about creating. I felt very connected to my tribe after reading this book. I felt connected regarding the joy of creating and also the obstacles and setbacks.

One of my specialties is helping others out of their creative impasses and I think I'm pretty good at it. But that doesn't mean I don't run into my own blocks, just the same. I've felt at a crossroads with my art lately and have had difficulty making myself go into the studio and create. ( I call it Practicing the Fine Art of Studio Avoidance.)There, I've said it. I think almost all artists get blocked sometimes, or maybe it's that we are empty. 

For me, I love teaching and consider it one of my greatest joys. But maybe I've been doing a little too much of it. Maybe I'm reluctant to deal with feelings and issues that will come out in my art. Maybe new creativity is percolating and hasn't come to the surface yet. Maybe I haven't been having enough new experiences or haven't looked at enough inspiring art and nature. This is for me to figure out and the first step is getting all the icky stuff out and containing it in my work. 

When I realized I was really in a slump regarding my art itself and my art career, I scheduled a consultation with my friend and mentor, Lesley Riley. Lesley has given me an assignment to do just for myself. My observing self watches me vacillate about getting started. I know I'm not alone in this.

I'm going to share the "getting it out" pieces with you. I'm striving not to criticize them for lack of artistic merit, but rather to rejoice in how I have expressed to myself what's going on inside.

 Burning Bridge   Pigment, Cold Wax, Collage on Panel

Watchers      Pigment, Cold Wax on Canvas

Where it Happened   Pigment, Cold Wax on Panel

In my next post I'll share some of my favorite methods of unblocking creativity and I'll let you know how I'm doing! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic, so please contribute your thoughts and experiences. We're all in this together.