Careful Cups

Click Here to Bid (6x6in. - starts at $100)

Ok, I lied. I said recently that I'd rather be painting than not, even if most of what I do are wipers. (Recap: we're moving to Montana soon and I don't have a lot of time to paint, so every time I do, I find I've forgotten how again, ugh.) Well, I guess I had enough sessions that didn't go well that I finally started avoiding my studio altogether. I got a ton of other work done! But I became downright AFRAID of my studio. Afraid of devoting time to painting and having bad results. Afraid of wasting time. And materials.

And it made me wonder if that's how a lot of people feel. Because the thing I hear MOST from my art friends is - they aren't getting into their studio often enough - and how can they be more committed?! I wonder if they just got discouraged along the way because of a few too many "bad" studio sessions.

If this is the case, I'll tell you what helped me. 2 things. 1. I decided yesterday to go and paint but only for me! Nothing to sell. Just playing around. This helped because I had absolutely no expectations. I did two bad paintings, wiped them off, and called it a day. Then today I painted, again with no expectations, and finally got into the swing again, and did three that I liked. Woo!

The other thing, 2., is that I bought and painted something I'm comfortable with - apples (I'll start posting these next). I think when you're feeling rusty and/or discouraged, it can help to stick with something you've painted before and liked, so that you can have a little success and move into ENCOURAGED mode.

Or then maybe it's just me.