Creating and destroying are equally important in the art making process
One of my best tools as a painter is the willingness to let go of what was in order to go deeper and find what can become. This is sometimes a wee bit scary.
Hello my friends and readers! This week’s post features new works in progress, and a video on how a painting progresses. I write about how creating and destroying are both crucial for making art, as well as making life. Read on for more.
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Creating and destroying are equally important in the art making process. Both are necessary.
I know that I must be willing to let go of 'good enough' in order to grow as an artist.
Honestly, this isn’t as hard these days as it used to be, on so many levels. I’m speaking spiritually and personally, as well as artistically.
Making changes to a painting can be painless, if I allow, trust, and go with it. One of the advantages of working with acrylic paint is the ease of covering up what isn’t quite working, or is just dull or uninteresting. I can take wild chances with color, paint over anything, glaze over uncooperative colors, or destroy the entirety of what was, and start again.
This is so much more painless than holding onto or trying to maintain an illusion of what used to work. Spending way too much time getting all picky and perfectionist over an art work is a sure fire way to kill its energy. I have to be willing to risk it all, to risk a perfectly beautiful image in order to go deeper and find my truth in a painting. Yes, it can be dramatic at times, lol.
One of my best tools as a painter is the willingness and the ability to create and destroy. This is sometimes a wee bit scary. Holding back and playing safe, whether in art or life itself, is stifling and suppresses discovery, growth, and adventure. There’s literally no space for something new and magical to appear if all the old stuff is clogging up the works.
I can only paint a painting in this moment, present time. Time flies when I’m having fun painting, and I feel light, invested, free. Every minute of time spent working in my art practice - painting, drawing, listening to a favorite art podcast, watching other artists’ videos, reading, shopping for art supplies - all of it contributes to the whole.
Here’s how these 3 paintings look today.
They are not complete yet, but happily are starting to show their unique personalities. My next step is patience, I have to sit and look at them in my studio for a few days, see what stands out and needs changing, what needs to go. Creating and destroying!
The turquoise one is my favorite so far, it has more space built into it. In general, I find these too busy as they are right now, but perfect for choosing which areas to bring forward vs. which areas to move back.
I have to be willing to let go of any of this in order to find what each can become. That’s also true of my own internal work, my spiritual growth. If I’m unwilling to release who I used to be, I cannot become who I am now.
Choosing to be conscious is what makes this work, and the commitment to being an artist is what keeps the energy in movement. Letting go of the illusion of control is the key, in art and in life.
“Let go or be dragged.” - Zen proverb
Here’s this week’s art studio video, with a look at how several paintings completely transform from creating and destroying what was before in order to discover something more alive and vibrant.
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Inspiration for transformation
"The poet or the revolutionary is there to articulate the necessity, but until the people themselves apprehend it, nothing can happen ...
Perhaps it can't be done without the poet, but it certainly can't be done without the people.
The poet and the people get on generally very badly, and yet they need each other.
The poet knows it sooner than the people do. The people usually know it after the poet is dead; but that's all right.
The point is to get your work done, and your work is to change the world."
‘Inside Out 2’ is a lot of fun!
Make room for new emotions, and here they are. I loved both films in this series, they are really worth seeing. Check out Inside Out 2.
Thank you for reading! I hope you have a wonderful creative week. Love, Kris
Thanks for this reminder that you have to let go of the past, especially with your art, to move into the present. It's so clear in your paintings!