Just over a month before the show and things are typically up and down. Mostly up, I have to admit. There's just a lot to attend to at this point in the process of getting ready for an exhibition. My grand plan was to be up at the studio by 9 or 9:30am today to get some painting done. Then, I would deliver a couple of paintings to be photographed for the exhibition card and Gallery Guide ad. The latter part was accomplished, but I didn't get up to the studio until nearly 12:30, which means going straight to the gallery, grabbing the paintings and a cab.
Got back to the studio, had lunch and promptly fell asleep on the couch. Didn't get a thing done while I was up there except some magazine reading after the nap. My studio mate came in and after relating how non-productive I'd been all afternoon she said something to the effect that "sometimes it's enough to just be in the space looking at what you've done and thinking". A good point. One that I don't think about often enough. When I'm in the midst of completing work for a show, I feel like I have to get something done in the way of either painting or prepping canvases in order to feel like I'm getting anything accomplished.
Art is as much about the looking as it is the doing. I do a fair amount of thinking about my work as I'm painting. There are times when I'll work on something for 30-45 minutes and spend another 10 or so looking at what I've just done; figuring out what is working and what isn't. It's rare that I'll spend whole afternoons or days, even being in there and not physically doing anything. Today I couldn't muster the mental nor physical energy to do much. I ate lunch, napped, read, and stared at paintings getting a feel for where I am with the finished ones and what I might do with the ones in progress.
The longer I sat there, the more comfortable I was with the thought of leaving without having laid paint to canvas. I just let it go and rode home looking forward to tomorrow...more rested and ready to go...
2 comments:
I'm with you on the looking as much as painting idea....and I think the amount of thought and analyzing that it takes to pull off good abstraction would surprise a lot of people. There is that "action painter" stereotype of totally intuitive and uninhibited slinging of paint. Ha! No way is it that easy!!
And yes I also agree with your studio mate that some days it's enough just to be around the work, just sort of inhaling its essence and not trying to accomplish much. Usually there will be a very productive day after you do that, have you noticed?
Usually there will be a very productive day after you do that, have you noticed?
Yes, as a matter of fact. Yesterday I had a very productive time in the studio after that 'day off'. Felt good...
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