A Year of Making Art
I always look forward to the end of the year time. No not for the merrymaking as such, although don’t get me wrong I do like to entertain and be entertained over the holiday season. But rather it’s that in between time after the Christmas cheer and before the calendar turns over to a new year that I anticipate with quiet pleasure.
Time seems to slow, walks amongst the wintery trees beckon, I read when I want to and cook at a leisurely pace for just two.
With few obligations over this quiet week, and me tucked up inside a cozy warm home, it’s the perfect time to reflect on my year of making art so that I can note all that I’ve achieved and celebrate the progress I’ve made in my art practice.
Working larger
I’ve written before about limiting beliefs that I’ve had about making art, specifically using stretched canvas as a support. Overcoming the resistance to working on canvas 18 months ago was a turning point in my practice. I’ve come to love the soft feel of canvas underneath my brushes as I work.
Another limiting belief that I’ve held for awhile is that I don’t like or can’t work on a large surface.
It may be true that I haven’t liked working on a large surface but the fact is that I can work on a large surface and have done so in the past. When I was in university studying art, we students were required to work on large supports, either paper or canvas. These supports measured 48" in height by 36" in width. If there had been more storage space in the classroom studio I think we would have made work that was even larger!
At that time I was drawing rather than painting and the size of the work ate up art supplies very quickly. After graduating from art school I wanted to explore different ways of working and also wanted to save on the cost of art supplies.
I scaled the size of my work down, way down, and worked quite small for many years, experimenting with collages and mixed media drawings on paper.
It's only recently that I've explored working larger, gradually increasing the size of my supports, from 12” x 12” to 16” squared, then 24” squared and then 30” squared.
But I’ve been intimidated to work on a very large support. In fact I’ve had two 36” x 36” canvases in my studio for well over a year. They sat unwrapped, in studio purgatory, for all of that time as I was daunted by their size. In November I decided that it was time to open the packaging and just begin. I felt ready.
And wouldn’t you know it, with an attitude open to the possibilities that the large canvases afforded me and a determination to push past the doubt, great progress was made on these two paintings with just a few weeks of work.
The best part of the experience was that I enjoyed the challenge of working in a larger format. It didn’t seem so intimidating once I was fully into the making of the work. I credit a greater understanding of my materials and a greater confidence in my ability for the successful resolution of these two large paintings.
So that’s two for two limiting beliefs conquered in the past two years!
Showing my work
One of the intentions that I held loosely for my practice this year was to find an opportunity to show my work outside of the studio space. I also wanted to engage with a larger audience through my work. In order to do that I sought out a public display space.
An opening to show my artwork at a local eatery came my way this past year and I felt ready for the challenge as I had enough completed work on hand to display as a cohesive collection. For a three months last spring eight of my paintings were installed on the café walls.
I can’t help but wonder what the clientele thought of my work, or if they even took note of it at all. Whether it resonated or registered at all with an audience of hungry patrons, I’ll never know, but I was proud of the work nonetheless.
Another real world opportunity to show my work came my way towards the close of the year. Art for All was fundraising event for Art Windsor Essex and I was honoured to have two of my paintings selected for inclusion in this juried show.
Some final thoughts
An ongoing commitment to working in the studio most days of the week, even if only for a few hours, has rewarded me with a greater confidence in the work that I do. As a result I’ve become more relaxed and comfortable with my process and ultimately the work that I choose to show to a wider audience.
I’ve overcome my resistance and limiting beliefs about working on large canvas supports and learned to love the challenge.
Finally, now that I’ve looked back and taken note of the year that will soon be behind us, it is time to turn my attention to the year ahead and make plans for the coming months in my art practice.
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