New Ground

I have discovered a new ground (surface) to work on.  It's called clayboard and I am in heaven.  It's got the sensitivity of paper, absorbs water and yet remains wet enough to push paint around on it a bit.

This little piece is about 5x7, and was inspired by a little post it note I found that Jonah had drawn on.

There was something special in the way he created the little black boxes and they reminded me of windows in the early native cave dwellings in Colorado.

I don't know why, but tiny windows in vast walls are comforting to me.  I feel protected and sheltered when I look at these little structures tucked away in the safe and sturdy stone (that's a lot of S's).

I am embarking on a new art journey as I am trying to let go of the expectations others have for me and my art.  Because I am able to paint "pretty pictures", there has always been a pressure for me to do so, to paint things that are easy to understand to the people around me. But so much of what I have created over the years holds no real worth to me because I was not creating from my heart.  

Out of nowhere this month, three books have come to me (I say come to me, because they have been around me for ages, but this is the first time I have picked any of them up), and it happens they are all on the theme of painting from your soul, or as one book puts it, "Source".  I am embarking on totally new territory... New Ground.   It had never really occurred to me that I should want to paint for myself.  It has been something that I have always given away, either physically, by giving the work away to others, or metaphorically, by giving away control by allowing other's opinions of the work dictate how I would paint and what images I chose.

My reading has encouraged me to simply paint and not worry about outside influences.  That is what I did with the little piece above. I just went for it, going only on what felt good. 

It's a whole new way to work for me. I'm excited to see what's next.