I realize that it’s February, but it’s taken me a while to sort out what needed leaving behind in 2018. One of those things was my discontent with my art business. I mentioned one piece of that last time, but I was still sifting through a few things and praying about how I should move forward.
And, instead of forward, I’m going back to my roots in a way.
As I’ve shared in several places, painting is where I felt the pleasure of God the most. There’s a connection there during those times that I’ve not experienced elsewhere.
But, I started adding in things on the back end, that took away from that pleasure. Things all artists “should” do. Blogging, Instagram, SEO, etc. I’m not saying that any of that is bad, I understand why they say all of it is important. But at what cost?
Taking photos all the time because I should.
Setting timers to remind myself to post because I should.
Becoming disappointed when things didn’t work out the way they should.
Shoulds ought to be included in the list of deadly sins, I think.
So, I’m going back to the beginning and relearning how to engage with God in the studio. I will recover that joy and delight in the artistic process. Maybe nothing I do for a while will be any good, but I’m okay with that. I have to find the spark of joy in the process and fan it into flames or it will go out and I will lose something precious. Not lost forever, God is too gracious for that, but the time in that darkness will be an unnecessary sadness.
What does this mean, practically?
I’ll post when I have something meaningful to say.
I’ll share images when I’m excited about a piece or process.
I’ll ignore the “shoulds”.
I’ll be working on smaller pieces so they move along faster. I’m someone who needs to see progress. I can have some long-term projects, but I do need to see movement somewhere.
This means that you may see posts from me more randomly, maybe a bit more frequently, but certainly with more joy!