I feel like my artistic creativity is stuck inside a box and I really need to get out of this box. How did I get inside this box? I’ve thought about it and i think the box was built by teachers, parents, expectations, and of course, by me. Art teachers in elementary school told us to make trees green, the sky blue. Safety patrols told us not to take shortcuts in the school hallways, but to follow the crowd. Gosh, I was a bus patrol! I wore a bright orange sash and patrolled the school bus on the ride home. I was a Brownie and a Girl Scout. I was a good Rule Follower. Don’t get me wrong, society needs rules to function, but sometimes art is better without too many rules.
Here I am in my Brownie uniform and it looks like I have cape-envy.
Later when I started college I entrolled in the University of Texas’ art program. I lasted one semester. The decided lack of guidance in the art classes bothered me. I needed steps, answers, rules and formulas. My professors offered none of these. It’s no wonder I felt unsettled since I grew up with lots of structure, at school and especially at home. It finally makes sense to me. One semester of doing projects and having the professors grade them seemingly with no clear basis was enough for me. A project that took me hours would garner a C whereas a drawing I did out in the hall just before class got me an A+ and an invitation to talk about the meaning of my drawing. After one semester of that nonsensical instruction I transferred to the engineering school. There I felt more at home with the rules, structure, and formulas. Naturally.
Fast forward many years and I’ve turned back to art for the creative aspects. Because I have to create. I’ve taken various classes from a handful of teachers, attended a few workshops, and read lots and lots of books. I was looking for more rules. But now, I’ve discovered that all these rules are confining me. That’s where the box comes in. Too many boundaries, too many rules to follow. It’s time to do something different. Finally.
I decided the first thing I want to do is make my work area more inviting, more fun and more creative. So today was the beginningn of a studio make-over. I’m blessed that I have a wonderful studio in our home. It’s not big but it’s a room all to myself with a tall cathedral ceiling. I sit here now and listen to the thunder rolling in and the rain falling on the tin roof over the north facing dormer and there is noplace I would rather be.
Today I went to the paint store and bought some paint, I put a little on the wall. A beginning. I need lighter walls, the walls are a dark grey right now. I want to make my studio a pretty and comfortable place to spend time. I have a corkboard to hang on the wall where I can pin ideas and inspiration. I need a place where I can paint but where I can also make things, where I can sew fabric or hammer nails, without anyone wondering what crazy thing I’m up to now. I think being an artist needs to extend beyond the boundaries of my canvas, how could it not? The artist in me needs to overflow beyond the canvas into the rest of the room. Even into the rest of the house. For goodness sakes!
So, dear reader, I hope you’ll stay tuned to watch my studio make-over. And after that I will continue to pray that God shows me how and where my talents can best be used for His puposes.
So fun! Can’t wait to see where this thinking outside the box leads your studio space! I am sure it will be wonderful and a special place for you to create!
Your new blog heading is beautiful! This signals a new beginning.
I’m excited to see what climbing out of the proverbial box will bring for you.
This is so exciting! I am so looking forward to the new you! to the new surroundings! to the new paintings!
Hi Denise, Silvina, and Pam, thank you all soooo much for reading my blog and for your encouraging words!
Joan
Wow! I love your new heading! Jackie-O makes a nice addition. I’m looking forward to seeing your studio progress and the creativity that comes from it!
P.S. Your brownie picture is adorable! What’s with the huge glove – at least I hope it’s a glove! 🙂
Thank you Linda for your wonderfully encouraging words!
The GLOVE – I wondered how my mother let me out of the house wearing those gloves! I think each table was representing a different country . . . but I’m still not sure which country wears huge white GLOVES!
Joan
Never a dull moment with you, Joan! I love the childhood picture… You really touched on some profound ideas here, food for thought! Thanks.
This post is great. I’ll have to put you on my blog roll and keep up with your new ‘thinkings.”
Enjoy the journey…it’s what matters!