OCTOBER
GO SLOW
Fresh off my month-long adventure, I was eager to get back to my work in the studio. I was ready to dive in and make all the things having filled my sketchbooks full of inspiration but I looked at the challenges I assigned for myself this year and October was something I did not expect. Go slow. What was January me thinking?! Probably, that I’m a very go-go-go type of person and probably should step back for a hot second every now and then but hellllooo I had paintings to paint and I was ready to start them right now!
It might be surprising to hear that this is a challenge for me since so many of pieces are so detail-focused and time intensive but it really is. Sometimes I think I’m like a bicycle and if I stop peddling I’ll just fall over. So, yeah, maybe slowing down would be a good thing. Still, that didn’t stop me from considering just doing Septembers challenge instead (because I was traveling I had to skip that one) but the fact that I was so resistant to this idea is what finally made me decide it was something I had to do.
Over the month, I made only 4 pieces which is crazy considering I usually make about 10-15. Now keep in mind not all of those pieces aren’t ones that will ever be more than an Instagram post (I share everything I make, even if it’s not my favorite because it’s all a part of the process) but still 4 verse 15 is a pretty big difference. What I struggled the most with was the having to spend so much time with a piece even though I wasn’t feeling it anymore. I’m a big fan of pushing through roadblocks like that but it the past I pushed through them quickly, more like a child playing Red Rover than an artist growing in her work. This time, I was forced to analyze where it went wrong and if there was any saving it in a more thoughtful way which in the end proved to be rather refreshing.
It’s been surprising to see how much the past challenges have stuck with me as the year has gone on. The August challenge to rethink my materials regularly showed up and teamed up with January’s task to find unexpected colors. This all confirmed to me how transformational these challenges have been to my artmaking and really encouraged me to move forward.
In the end, I think it was a great experiment in patience to create this way and I’m excited to swing the pendulum the other direction and see how November’s challenge to be prolific goes. Just 2 more months left in 2017 which means only 2 more challenges. Bring it on!