Working

Time in: 1:00pm

Back in the studio- I'm trying to get earlier starts in the studio because my natural light is gone by around 5pm. I notice that I start to make everything worse when it starts to get dark, even though I have lights. I can't wait until I can have a proper work space with good lighting, enough space to set everything, and that's dedicated to work so I don't have to pick everything up when I'm finished. I may just be feeling a little bit of cabin fever because it's winter in Chicago and I am missing warmth and being able to get outside and do things.

Yesterday I continued to work on three of the paintings I have going. Some moves are going forward, some are going backward, but I think I am learning. The glimpses of forward movement are few and far between, but I guess I should be reminding myself that good paintings can take a while to make.

One of the things I get to see while working for Wesley is how long he works on a painting. This year he's been re-working some of them that he started (and maybe thought they were complete) years ago. It's almost like they needed to sit and settle for a while before they could become complete. Or I think part of it is that he continues to grow and mature as an artist and so can make paintings better now than was possible for him 5 years ago.

I think that should be the hope of other artists. I see a lot of artists that peak early, and their growth gets stunted. They stop pushing themselves and trying to get to the next level and rely on some previous success or affirmation, rather than stepping out of their formula to risk failure.

To Do:
Work on "Double Fatigue"- my forehead, neck and bring back some brushwork
"Deanna"- Continue to develop neck/shoulders
"Aerobic": work on body, forehead, neck