THE JOURNEY OF AN ARTIST

It's time for me to get real. This blog has been an account of my travels, my teaching journal, my paintings as they progress - but this is also a personal account of my journey as an artist. I don't know about you but I'm finding that the road that we "artists" travel has many turns and detours along the way, while we continue to try our best to stay on the bigger road. These "detours" are very possibly made of dirt, and when we find ourselves walking in the dirt, we might realize that we have strayed from the road. I'm not making much sense am I? Well, maybe I am to some.
First, you have to have found the road. This will take some time, at least for me it did. It took me 45 years before I decided to stay on this road. In my youth, I had crossed it many times, but I didn't know the value of it, or I didn't think I had what it took to stay on it.
So now I've found my road. It is long and can be challenging. This life of an artist is always interesting, but often a struggle. Just read about the past artists. (If you can't get to the library or afford the books right now - go to the side bar and read up! Stapleton Kerns and Underpaintings are wonderful resources!)
This road is also a wonderful gift from God to me.
Yesterday I was talking with my good friend Allison. She is one of those friends that listens, really listens. She has the gift of discernment, among many others. So, I was telling her about some of the things I learned while in France, and also filling her in on how things were going with me and my art. We speak the same language - so to speak - and she has always been a wonderful bouncing board for me. So I was explaining Jim Smyth's (1 of my instructors in France), theory about how we grow as artists. He says that we are either on the "seeing" side of learning as a painter - or we are on the side of "doing - or creating art". He called it "producing". While in France, I may have been producing, but now I'm "seeing" or learning to "see" more as an artist. We need to see, in order to create. Okay, the hard part about being on the "seeing" side of learning, is that the painting part really isn't working too well. Welcome to my world!!
I've had so many ideas, inspirations and paintings floating around in my head since I got back, that I can't hardly spit one out. On top of that, I'm learning to see so much more, that I'm struggling to paint. Don't get me wrong, this is all good. It's just not fitting into my little plan.
But I've decided to go along with it, and I'll keep you informed as to how it goes. I promise to post some work soon....