38 Trips Around the Sun
And Other Cosmic Culminations
I just had a birthday, and as the post title might divulge, I am now 38 years old. I feel pretty ok about it… No existential crises yet!
When taking the time to reflect it’s important to start with an attitude of gratitude. Consider your major milestones and the hurdles you had to jump to get there. Every life has its unique road, and the one you travel looks very different from another… so be kind to yourself. It’s taken me some time to realize this and occasionally I need to remind myself of it when I’m comparing my journey unfavorably to another person’s. I’m positive that I needed to learn certain life lessons, or meet certain individuals, or finally feel ready or supported to pursue the things that I desire. That said, maybe the words I put into the world as an artist who is “figuring it out” is the stuff that can help another find the support they need to start their artistic journey. I hope so!
One thing I realize now as my drive and motivation builds and the picture becomes clearer is that whenever you are ready, there are resources you can tap into that will help you achieve it. Now is an amazing time to be alive as a creative. I am inspired constantly because I am instantly connected to other artists around the world. Say what you will about the evils of the internet, but it is also a miracle tool. With access to the internet I can scroll through images of original artwork by artists I like, and I can engage with those artists whom I admire! I can pursue podcasts and listen to the words of artists who are going through similar struggles or get tips from those who are further along in their careers. I can watch videos of process art and learn a new skill. I can launch my business from my own home, put out low-cost ads, and sell my art online. I can even put my art on a coffee mug for goodness sakes, and sell that! As long as you are willing to put in the work and the time, you can curate your community, your education, and your business. That is so damn powerful!! So go do it, right now!
And throw away the ticking clock. It is not your friend. The thing inside you that says “I can’t”, is wrong. YOU CAN, it just might take some time. But you are an artist, and you have the long game in mind. You can pursue your practice deep into old age, and you should! Engaging in art will keep your neurons firing, so keep the fire burning! But who started the fire? It was always burning since the world’s been turning…
Ok, what was I talking about? Speaking of meandering roads and long journeys… OH YEAH! I was talking about turning a year older. Perhaps this means I’m a year wiser, and if it’s the case I’m happy to impart whatever wisdom I’ve picked up along the way.
I was talking about reflection, too. This past month was a busy month and my long awaited workshop came and went, rather quickly! This year the anticipation was much easier and my nerves were far less jangly. I didn’t over think it too much, and I couldn’t if I wanted to! Having an infant and a 4 year old means much less opportunity to over think. It would be remiss of me as an Artist/Mother (speaking of, check out this podcast moms!) to not mention the constant challenge of raising children while trying to do anything else!
For instance, our family seems to be at the butt end of a cruel cosmic joke, and a plague inevitably bears down on our household whenever something big is scheduled. I know what I said about “attitude of gratitude”, but I’m going to be grittily honest here and say WHAT THE ACTUAL BLEEP is going on with our terrible luck around this?? Someone out there has it worse and can set me straight in the comment section, but in the meantime Iet me assure you that we’ve had our share of stomach bugs and ear infections and I am mind numbingly tired of dealing with it.
My workshop surprisingly was the restful moment in a very restless weekend with curious students who all arrived fully engaged and eager to learn new things.
Snapshots from the workshop at Cove Street Arts: Painting with Gouache 2.0
The theme for the lesson was “discovery”, and we got into materials that could expand any gouache practice. We had a varied group of participants. Some in the group were accomplished artists or had dabbled in gouache before, and others were new to art-making and interested in adding dimension to their lives. For me, I find such variety inspiring. Each person was supportive of the next, learned something of the other, and took something away with them that they otherwise never would have known. It’s been wonderful to add these teaching moments to my business plan, and I hope to add other venues as opportunities for adult learning. Having done some research I do have a few plans up my sleeve for 2024… Please join my newsletter if you want to be notified of any new scheduling!
Any workshop weekend, although uplifting in some ways, is surely energy spent in others. The weekend tumbled right into a heavy lift… solo parenting while my husband was away on business. Perhaps it was divine intervention reminding me to slow down (yeah! That’s it!), because it became apparent as his plane touched down in a distant state that it was my turn to inherit some messy internal gut health! I played survival and got well just in time for an absolutely gorgeous Memorial Day weekend weather-wise.
I’m solo parenting again (take a guess at how much art is getting done) and Ansel is home sick with this slow-moving bug that’s hung around our household for the past two weeks. It has come full circle and now and I hope it is on it’s way out! Speaking of… what I’d really like to come full circle is this rant of a blog post! Umm, right, hurdles… motherhood… art… The path that we’re on and gratitude! Internet = good? Oh, god help me. What’d I say again about an existential crisis?
