Living the Life of an Artist
February 15, 2011
Bright, cold, windy morning and after a restless night (as restless as the wind,) I am feeling stiff and achy. These bones are getting old and tired. I should go out walking, but it’s too darn cold. Instead, I sit with a bowl of oatmeal trying to get motivated to work on my drawings. You’d think from the beauty I can see from this window, that I’d feel more inspired.
A lot of snow melted yesterday in temperatures that reached 50. I’m not looking out through bars of icicles any more. The bird feeders that I’ve not seen in weeks are poking out of the snow, but now the snow looks dirty as it’s covered with limbs and pine needles.
I’m debating my work schedule for today. Minutes need to be typed for last month’s LSSC BOD Meeting. I have the 5 drawings in various stages on the easels here in the dining room. The next step is to bring them downstairs to the basement studio to put them on the big easels so that I can get a better view and finish them up. Two of them are close to being finished and if I get them done today, I’ll be able to take them to the framer tomorrow.
It’s funny the obstacles that come up; obstacles that are often only in the mind, the self-sabotage, the lack of motivation. How to work beyond them is one of my jobs. How to not be distracted by an idea for another project or how to return once I’ve been interrupted… even if it’s just by Freyja who stretches on the table beside and reaches out with one paw to remind me she likes kitty-pats.
It’s time to put finishing touches to a drawing which will be done with electric eraser and a charcoal pencil. I have a hard time keeping the pencils sharp enough to do the little bit of detail work, that just enough to create the illusion of detail. Why do I let that hang me up?