Day 2 of Thirty,Thirty,Thirty

Still Standing 

I think it's 
Throwback Thursday-
I received a notice in my News feed that exactly five years ago today, I posted that the Still Standing Installation won an award in the Wellsville Art Association Seven Counties Art Show.  Interestingly enough, that newsy reminder made me remember that I forgot to go to the Seven Counties Art show opening tonight. 

Instead of attending, I was still stuck in Wednesday-ville and drawing sketches for an Arachnoiditis Survivor portrait. 

The interesting thing (to me anyway) about this "News" was that it seemed to emphasize the creative cycles of which I am becoming increasingly aware. There is, without a doubt, an internal rhythm which determines what kind of work I make, when I make it, and HOW long it takes me to give it a voice. While it is occurring; I am never surprised that the winter works just seem to bubble and stew until eventually they release a savory, soothing, acceptable flavor. The winter projects are bulkier and more insulated than the breezy and light pieces that burst forward in spring and summer. The part that I find surprising in this moment is that I hadn't really picked up on this annual pattern in my art-making timeline until today.                           

Confronting Ambivalence 

 

Wishes

Under the strong influence of winter, I created these colorful paintings last year.  Although I remember both being a rebellion against cabin fever, with a side of, "I-just-need-something-that-flows!"~ the one made in the depths of winter is dark and heavy. Like static in the dark as the woolen blanket pulls away from your flannel pajamas; the colors escape through the thick weave of textured paint. 

 Looking at it now, it feels like it was a desperate grasp for what I remembered of living things without an actual frame of reference. 

 The second painting was made last April. Still a rebellion against cabin fever, it is bursting with the promise of blooms near- at- hand. Easier to imagine than they were a few months earlier, the heavy cloak was lifting. 

The "cray-cray" painting I am working on right now revisits this theme. Tension is mounting. New ideas,energy, and spirit tangled in the dark grasp of winter are ready for the light. 

Times up. 
Back here again tomorrow.