Friday, December 31, 2010

"Be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle."    Plato

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Hiatus. Creative block

For a long time I have not had much to write about. Maybe, however, that in itself is something to write about. I am in the middle of a creative block. I have a number of works that are partly finished but have not touched them for a couple of weeks or so now. At this time of year the duties (or should I say "celebrations") of Christmas tend to take over as well which will make dealing with it worse. It was heartening to have sold a couple of works last week. It is nice to think of my work going into someone's home and hopefully giving them pleasure. I am still, however, finding it impossible to get myself to go into the studio.
It is difficult to climb out of a block period. Some people use random art work including mixed media work, with no object in mind. I think a lot of the problem is a consciusness of having to "get it right". Working towards an exhibition encourages this way of thinking.

This gives a few ideas. Using a different scale and loose mark-making may be the way to go to free up and get "in the groove" again. I do like the idea of pinning large sheets of paper to the wall and drawing large and free with no object other than the enjoyment of the process in mind. I think it was Kokowshka that recommended drawing with the whole body, The sweep of the arm not just the hand. Jackson Pollock is an obvious contemporary example of this. I will use this as a guide and see what happens.
This video isn't really on creative block but interesting anyway.

No images of my work this time. Hopefully with the next post.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Tnorala, Northern Territory

Tnorala, Northern Territory. Gouache on paper. 50cm x 70cm