Thursday, January 29, 2009

Struggling


I'm in that strange space I enter when painting something new and challenging. Unconscious fears arise and block progress, I am holding something back cause I am not ready for it to be released. The only way to free myself is to keep painting but it is torture to keep painting, I hate painting when I am in this space, I have to fight resistance and procrastination with all my will and sometimes this is more exhausting than anything, sometimes I just need to do something else. Yet the paintings keep calling me to work on them. Really struggling with these two pieces yet they are insisting on coming into being. Will probably work on some of my landscapes today and try to rebuild the confidence I need to return to the figures.

2 comments:

Cyndee Greene said...

Hi Holly`
Thank you for your candidness of your process & for how well you articulate what is up. Unconscious fears...they're amazing aren't they? Resistance...releasing... procrastination....exhaustion... I think I hit all of these a few moments ago unexpectedly. As if we should expect these things. Then I saw your title 'Struggling' in my Follow box & had to read it. It somehow made me breathe a little & raised me up a bit. It somehow helped me release the shame I carry for the struggle I go thru. Enough to deal w/ the situation that arose a little while ago.
Thank you! Your work is amazing! And I am not just talking about your art. I'm glad I found you!
Cyndee

Patrice said...

As artists, the subconscious is often both our muse - and the wall between that muse and the realization/creation of a particular art piece that is the manifestation of our personal style. This kind of struggle to get "it" just right is the best reason for painting series of the same subject matter...

So often it's how it feels more than the actual image; as indeed the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

Featured Post

Air Canada purchases a painting for their collection

I was honoured to have a large 48" x 48" painting purchased by Air Canada last month.  I am always grateful when a corporatio...