Re-engaged

Detail: work on paper, 2022

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday, I was having trouble even being in the studio. I forced myself to go because I needed to at least be in there. I'd taken some time off from working regularly over the holidays to just have some time with family and to try and decompress a bit. Last year, while incredibly fruitful was also really intense in a way that it hadn't been in a long time. By December, I needed to slow down, take everything in and recalibrate. It was time to let go a little, reflect and begin to slowly start to move forward again. 

I always preach that artists need to take time away from directly making art and care for other aspects of their lives. Being able to balance things out a little can help a lot. This year, in spite of it being one of the best I've ever had creatively and professionally, found me questioning my role as an artist and more specifically, my work as of late. The biggest thing to haunt me was "What now?" How do I move forward after having such an intense year of artmaking? The answer is to just start somewhere and see where that takes me. I've done just that in the form of two new paintings, one 36" x 36" panel and a 40" x 40" canvas. 

I'm starting to get somewhere. The pieces aren't quite at a place where I can stop working on them, but maybe in a couple more studio sessions. I'm finding myself kind of dissatisfied with how I'm painting. I need to change some things up, but I'm not sure what those are just yet. I'm really wanting to work on some pieces that don't rely on the glyphs, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what that looks like. The only way I'll be able to figure that out is to make more drawings. I need to carve out some time to just draw and make marks without expectations of making something "good". I've been making some collages that have drawing as a component, but what I'm thinking about are just drawings existing on their own without imposing preconceived ideas about what they should include.

TM