Are You A 'No Worries, I Can Do This,'

Or a 'Oooh, now then, just let's just hang on a minute' kind of person?

You’ve been experimenting. You’ve created something you like. You see a way forward.

Do you dive headlong along the path, or are you like me and pull back a little…?

I’m excited about this new direction, and in my mind’s eye, I can see a whole new series. BUT, there’s a part of me that’s resisting going full speed ahead. Creeping forward yes, but the handbrake’s still firmly on.

Having happily splashed paint around with no expectations, now, the brushstrokes become hesitant. Thoughts rush in, unbidden. ‘Was that just a fluke? Can I do it again?’

And that phrase, ‘in my mind’s eye, I can see a whole new series,’ is a huge part of the problem.

By jumping so far ahead, envisaging finished pieces, I put enormous pressure on myself - that only results in stifling all the loose, expressive qualities that I liked in the first place!

I’m sure these thoughts and doubts are not uncommon, even to the most experienced of artists; it’s what I do next that determines if I move forward or remain stuck on the tracks.

“I think 99 times and find nothing. I stop thinking, swim in the silence, and the truth comes to me.”

Albert Einstein

It’s a constant battle; reminding myself that my best work happens when I don’t overthink it. When I’m not trying to control every brush stroke and mark. Easier said than done though isn’t it - trying to switch off, or at least turn the volume down, on that annoying inner critic.

I find working on several pieces simultaneously, or listening to a podcast or music, helps prevent me from ‘dwelling’ too much…

A walk between sessions, time spent in nature, reading, copious cups of coffee; all activities that mean I come back to the work refreshed, and can view the work anew. And that’s when ‘happy accidents’ occur, and lead to further avenues of exploration…

Here, I wasn’t thinking ‘Is this going to result in a finished piece? Will it be worthy of framing?’ No, I was simply thinking ‘How can I suggest the illusion of a flower without being too literal? What’s the least amount of detail/information that I need?’

I love this painting by Piet Mondrian:

“Line of Trees in a Marshy Landscape” - 1906, Watercolour, chalk & pastel on paper

The trees are just unfussy lines/trunks with a smudge to represent the canopy of branches… My mind fills in the details; I can almost hear the crows. Now, I’m not saying that I want to take things as far as Mondrian in his famous, minimal, abstract works, but for me, less is definitely more!

For me, it’s about finding a tiny detail to highlight…

Giving an illusion without putting absolutely everything in…

Now, I’ll be honest, there were parts of this video that were going to end up on the cutting room floor - (I’m sure you’ll know which bits I mean!) - but I have a ‘thing’ about how social media shows everything as being perfect, so I’ve left it all in, warts and all… (And also, apologies for the part where some of the demo was out of shot…although you do get a close up of the example further on in the video…)

And talking of ‘less is more’, I’m loving these seemingly simple, but effective pieces…

As with most things that look easy, I’m sure it’s not!

Until next time, happy painting!