moving forward with each tiny step

Did you happen to read my last post? Yes, the one that I was in such a rush to write that I didn't even give it a title? If not, please read it now... I really did hit that publish button and close the browser window as quickly as I could, my heart racing just a little bit... Learning to take definitive action and not overthink things to death all the time! But in baby steps.

That action-taking is definitely something that I struggle with, that I need to work on actually doing more often. This is, I know, one of the major stumbling blocks I have to getting myself where I want to be.

I tend to work better under a deadline. Not that I like being under a deadline, mind you - I'd rather not have all that stress, my anxiety meter goes off the charts way too quickly to be comfortable working under the gun, so to speak, but I can't deny it's power as a motivator. Nothing like lighting a fire under my ass to actually get me off my procrastinating behind. I should probably look for a better way to motivate myself that's kinder to my nervous system, maybe by using one of Havi's techniques?

In lieu of any self-imposed deadlines, I haven't been painting much lately. Or collaging, at all. Until last week that is, when I was scrambling for a birthday present to give my mom, and I decided 3 days before the day to paint her something! An impossible task? Nearly so, I managed to finish a seascape for her (not in time for the day we celebrated her birthday, but it was in her hands before the actual day). And these pictures are it! Here's the finished piece, a 6 inch x 12 inch acrylic on panel:

I got so into this painting that I didn't want it to be done - so I carried the theme over to a mini-panel, this one is a tiny 3 inch x 3 inch piece. And I have lots of ideas floating around in my head for a series of paintings based on the lines in this one. Time permitting... and a fire to keep me going!

A Little Light Reading on a Sunday

This week I caught a nasty cold, the last few days have been a blur of fever and dvd's. Really not much interest in doing anything more taxing than staring at my tv screen, I couldn't even get into the magazine I tried to read. But, today I am feeling much better, although I still need to take it easy. So I'm catching up on some reading, with these three books I recently purchased.

I'm no stranger to the self-help section of the bookstore (shhh, let's keep that just between us, ok?) And I mentioned in this post that I was looking forward to Inner Productivity to help me get a handle on my lack of motivation/commitment to my goals. I haven't cracked it open yet, but I'm two-thirds of the way through The War of Art - which turned out to be so much better than I expected, and which I will read a second time as soon as I'm finished. And will probably re-read for years to come. Until it's tattooed into my brain. I don't usually underline my books, it has to be a real knock-out book to get me to take a pen or highlighter to it, and it's crazy how much of this book I have underlined already. It's a great book for anyone interested in understanding and overcoming their inner resistance - not just for art or other creative pursuits, but for anyone trying to live (in the words of Oprah) their Best Life.

sometimes it's like that

Have you ever sat down to do something creative, and nothing felt right? The mind a whirlwind of scattered thoughts, no inspiration in sight. So you pull out that sketchpad & just start moving the pencil over it, in hopes something will form.

But forcing never works.... And so you figure today is just not the day for it, despite what you'd hoped to accomplish. And lo and behold, a mere 20 minutes later, after turning you attention completely to something else -

Voila!

- a completely new idea springs forth in your mind, a fully imagined compostition. And maybe, this new thing even has the potential to bridge disparate elements of your body of work so far, which you'd thought didn't go together at all, and feared made you look scattered in your efforts.

Sometimes, it's like that.