I’ve been reflecting on the role this blog has played for me.
The blog has helped me greatly to stop and reflect on previous work so that I can learn from past strengths and weaknesses. For example I consider my strengths to be my drawing, and use of colour and texture in painting. I also realise that I have tended to charge into a painting like a bull in a china shop, press on past the point of creative concentration, bash onwards to finish – wasting what I have done – and then bin the work in disappointment and anger. I now realise that I should take more breaks when I am “winning” so that I can hopefully return with refreshed concentration levels. This could involve putting the work away and looking at it again much later or just having a short break away from it. It could also involve working on several pieces at once allowing time for paint to dry, etc thereby improving my technique whilst still allowing me to work when I want to continue. This would prevent slapdash, sloppy technique when I want to paint but, for example, the paint isn’t dry. It would also give me time to stop and think about the intention of the work. That way, I can maintain momentum without overworking or decoration. This would help me to know when to stop – always a difficult decision but much better when one has stepped away for a time. All of this was a big learning point for me.
The blog has also allowed me to relate the work of other artists to what I am doing in a practical everyday way.
The blog has also helped me to reflect on what I am doing and to articulate it to myself. This has helped enormously in trying to impart meaning in my work. I enjoy working in a “projects” way anyway so writing as I go along is very useful in recording ideas and sometimes this leads to the generation of other ones.
I am definitely going to enjoy my work more in the future by maintaining a diary about it.
