I've done a lot of creative things since I've retired. Some involve making images out of paint or dye. And others have been about writing, as in this blog. I like moving between images and words; it keeps my brain balanced. So why now when I'm going gang-busters with my writing am I drawn to paint again?
Several on-line advertisements for paint sales at art stores have been catching my eye and stirring my imagination. It's been over four years since I painted in my studio (an upstairs bedroom in my home). Somehow the reasons why I stopped painting don't feel as compelling now. Maybe after this hiatus I could start again. But so much has happened since I last painted. I'm different now...So maybe the painting will be different and a little more fresh.
Years ago I painted everyday on paper, using bottles of acrylic paint. I did abstract expressionistic art. And I squirted bottles of paint however and whichever way I was so moved. I squirted fast and furious and mostly spontaneously. I made a lot of bad art but a few keepers too. I even donated a painting to a charity's gala, and it fetched a modest amount at the silent auction.
But somehow after showing and then selling one piece I just didn't know what my next mountain to climb was. Granted I could honestly tell people that I was an artist. But my internal drives were now flat. I had a bad case of "So now what?"
So maybe I'll suffer through the awkward stages of beginning all over again. Yet another thing to put on my Xmas list. New paint and huge pads of watercolor paper to keep me occuppied in the cold and cloudy months after Solstice. I could look forward to that.
