I got bit Monday night by the painting bug. I really do believe that inspiration comes in waves and when it hits you, you have to just jump in and see what happens. I was reading an article online, that the lovely Flora Bowley shared on her facebook page on Monday, and it was all I needed to pull out my paints again.
I was Flora's "intern" for a very brief period of time, only a few months, during the summer of 2009. I found her work through another blogger, quickly learned that she was based out of Portland, and I wrote to her immediately to see if I could help out in her studio in any way. I had just graduated and was looking for ways to stay creative, inspired and involved and learn from a working artist while trying to pay my bills waitressing at a Hotel about 45 minutes east of the city.
She took me in and put me to work, prepping and painting the edges of canvasses, scanning and organizing digital files for online sales, taping off and prepping bamboo mini-canvases, drilling holes for wiring, sealing and varnishing with resin, etc., and I also got to listen to great music, watch her work, and pick her brain. One of the first things she taught me was to use a glass palette. Smart lady.
// In case you're wondering why: You leave your paint to dry on the palette overnight (rather than spending precious time washing your large plate of glass) and in the morning, spray down the entire palette with water and in a few minutes you'll be able to scrape off all of the dried paint with a razor blade, easy peasy.
Unfortunately, as I said before, the time I got to spend with her was brief.. she took off on one of her Bali vacations :) and I ended up moving out of state while she was out of the country.
Anyway.
In the article, she said: “The way I approach it is I don’t know how it will happen,” she said. “I’m not trying to create something out of my head, I’m just starting to get marks made and get the energy going and then eventually it emerges naturally.”
And so I did.
I started anyway.
And tonight, I'm pulling them out again, and I guess we'll get to see what happens next, together. This round is about letting the paintings create themselves, and painting with intuition.
My head is getting tired of planning and appeasing and predicting. And letting go of all of that feels really good.
I'll keep you posted :) xo
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