Artwala Road

New session of drawing class started. We have one new student who attended art school in her youth and is very accomplished so we can simply march forward.

We had a real treat when one of the class brought in a ‘painting’ done in fabric and stitching. I’d given them a poem to interpret and this student ran with it in such a creative way. This is the joy of working together as a group—we can inspire each other.

I’m so happy to be teaching this class and to be a witness to the artistic journey of these young women who’ve all passed the halfway mark in life. Everyone is accomplished and successful in other careers but this is a time when we all have so much to give in terms of experience and energy. The desire to express is huge and there is now time to do this work. I’m really interested in how this time in a woman’s life can be one of manifestation on many levels.

Next week we’ll begin to explore our goals and to reach for what it is we most want to explore as artists. I decided a long time ago that what calls me most strongly is the written word, even though I’ve worked as an artist for thirty years. I feel lucky to have these two loves but I have only one real focus now and that is to grow my writing. The students in the art class are finding their focus too.  I’m being a bit pushy these days but artists have to be strong and brave.  Well, we all do, in whatever it is we choose to focus on, if we want it to go somewhere.

April 9th, 2007 | Category: Drawing Life | Comments (2)

Filled out my tax forms yesterday which meant rummaging through the bookshelves for various ’statements’ until the contents of the shelves were piled on my desk. See photo, enhanced in Photoshop because it looks so much better this way. I gnashed my teeth and filled in the forms for the IRS. They’re not difficult, just boring and the results are sobering. No refund for me.

And then I had to face the stack of stuff on the desk—old receipts and notebooks filled with details of various projects either finished or never begun. I tossed the notes for projects never begun. I know now there is a constant stream of ideas and the only ones I need to pay attention to are of this moment. So out these notebooks went.

Then I tossed the ones for projects that are done. It’s the finished work that matters. That’s all.

I’m keeping a few journals with the reflections of the day. They’re fun to glance at once every couple of years but I usually toss them too after a while. I like to keep moving forward and I think the legs can be slowed by the undertoe of history and time. But for now, they sit there, filled with their various enthusiasms, some of which might bubble up into something worth exploring.

I’ve kept the ones with drawings because drawings give instant pleasure and are great energy. It makes me happy to see these sketches, like seeing an old friend.

So, even though it snowed here yesterday, spring is here, I know, because I have less stuff hanging around and, minimalist that I am, I’m feeling free and light and ready to dive into my new writing project untaxed.

April 5th, 2007 | Category: Dear Reader | Comments (1)