PROCESS

Beetleman - mixed media sculpture

Like many of us I follow a few artists blogs.

This morning I got around to reading something Linda Matthews posted  a bit over a week ago.  It really resonated with me.  The gist of her post was that, rather than making resolutions each new year, she chose a word to guide and focus herself for the coming year.  You can read her post here. 

At this moment in time I have an exciting 2019 coming up with several projects on the go for group exhibitions and a solo exhibition in August.    With these commitments comes the worry of overcommitment and fear of actually producing a work which meets the scope of the exhibition themes.

And, in the past month I have had some serious discussions with artist friends about these worries and fears and how I produce a work.   The conversations have all circled around process.  

So what is process in art making?  

• Revisit the same themes over and over again but also keep experimenting.
• Allow yourself to explore your theme and play with your chosen mediums. 
• Flow with and explore your ideas – but with a bit of discipline.  Don’t jump to wanting to achieve an end result.

So how does this tie in with Linda’s suggestion to chose a word to guide and focus herself?    I have chosen PROCESS as my word for 2019.   I will work on my art making with a focus on process rather than product.

I  will continue to work on my themes of bugs, beetles and bees throughout 2019.   I now see that I can draw, work up in pastel, paint charcoal, contemporary clays, fabric, stitch and whatever else takes my fancy.    The challenge is to  push my boundaries, select, isolate, enlarge and grow as an artist.