With a week to go on this I suspect it is going to be a bit of a crazy week, I would rather it wasn't but I know myself well enough. I feel like I have quite a bit more than a week worth of stuff I'd like to do but rules are rules even if they are self imposed.
It's always surprising when you discover that you don't know things you thought you knew. It's not always pleasant but what's life without a few surprises.
Working with just over a week to go.
It's inevitable that you will have to at times discard things that at one time served you well. Sometimes we need to build scaffolding to support an idea before it can stand on it's own but once it can, the scaffold can come down. Unless of course you are in the business of building scaffolds.
A reoccurring character.
Chipping away.
I'm enjoying the process of working at this scale. I forgot how pleasant brush strokes can be.
This is filling out.
Another day of working things out. I think this bit is ready to go. Perhaps when this piece is done I'll find some way to share more about some of what I'm drawing from on this.
A bit more sketching. I've had some ideas for what this bit would be but I still need to sort it out.
If my studio practice was an Aesop's fable then I would definitely be the tortoise and not the hare, at least as far as daily progress goes. It is a bit like watching the hour hand move on a clock, but working this way feels right.
Working.
This is the first real sketching I've done on this off the actual piece but I wanted to figure this out a bit first.
I've read slightly varied versions of this quote but I like this phrasing used here. No one really knows how it was said exactly but I understand the sentiment so well I have no doubt that he said it.
“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” ~Vincent Gogh
Working the upper right corner.
Slow but steady.
Making notes. This feels new. I never intentionally and methodically worked on something of this scale over this length of time. I've realized that I need a way to keep track of my thoughts and ideas regarding specific areas of the work. If I don't, I know from experience that I will forget them. Not all the ideas may make the cut but I think it's' necessary to keep track of them nonetheless. Often bad ideas are the springboard for a great ones.
Having a seat. Moving along.
I may or may not have stumbled on a direction for these 12 pieces. 12 is not a huge number so to settle on a theme across a dozen pieces would be sort of a tidy way to tie them all together.
It's inevitable, some days will just be weird. On days such as these you just have to ride it out and not get sidelined by said weirdness, whatever your respective weirdness might be. Oh and a bit of progress on this besides.
There is a direct correlation between the things we learn and forget and have to relearn again and what we practice daily. In the short hiatus from daily consistent studio work I felt a noticeable lapse once starting up again. If this is true for such a short period of time image if the gap is longer.
One of the things I wanted to do more on this project is meander in the work and allow for discovery in the process without premeditated ideas.
It's nice be along for the ride.
