Hello friends,
I can hardly believe that summer’s (almost) over. It was everything summer’s supposed to be: Art and sun and wine and friends. Late evenings and late mornings. If I’m totally honest, I’m reluctant to head back to the constraints and rhythms of school.
Summer’s moments of extra light and days without schedule allowed for more time for making, and I’ve been taking every advantage of that.
I thought I’d share a few glimpses into my studio and a new series of paintings that I’m making. The paintings are on much bigger canvases than I’ve ever painted on before, and I feel like the rules have changed. They’re experimental and unfamiliar and all I want to do is spend time with a brush in my hand, following where the ink and paint take me.
One of the biggest pieces began as a compilation of the 100 circles I made for the 100 Day Project. It felt incredibly risky, and then incredibly freeing to paint over that work. To let it evolve, become more.
This is something I’ve been exploring in general lately: How to not be too precious with things. How to let things go easily, and move towards the things that fill me up or move me in the moment, without needing to cling to them, or to contain them.
This is a theme I’ve also been exploring over on Tumblr, making 100 poems for 100 days. They’re raw, in the moment gestures that allow me to slip around the side door to my subconscious and tap into the stuff my heart knows, but my mind tends to get too clever about. Like I did with the 100 circles project, I’ve made the rule set super simple for these poems: In the moment, wherever I am, without much fuss or editing. Just write. Hit publish. Let go. It’s pretty sneaky how this work has started to change me.
How showing up for real, without doing much talking about it, or procrastinating, or posturing, has made me a better artist and a better writer. It takes a certain kind of daring and discipline I’d lost for a while, and I’m grateful to have rekindled it this summer.
I’m deeply filled by this new approach to work, in a way I didn’t expect, and can’t quite put a finger on, except to say: Each time I show up, I feel myself become re-grounded. I find my breath differently. It’s become a practice, again, anew.
Thanks for stopping by. I’m so grateful for the scattered community that still finds its way here. And I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to this summer, and see glimpses, if you have them to share, of your creative practice, your work, your workspaces.
xo,
C
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