Junk Drawer of My Mind

My Painter's Keys letter today had these thoughts:

Make your mistakes with less on the table.
Have low commitment for courage and creativity.
Catch the wisdom of series and set.
Make variations on themes and motifs.
Build proficiency on the personal game-board.
Overcome the natural tendency of preciousness.
Feel the energy of the portable smug.
Use natural selection to drive potential larger work.

Make your mistakes with less on the table.
I think this means less expectation that the work will be fantastic. Just do the work and whatever will be, will be. Now that is hard. Don't we all expect so much more? And then experience such a letdown when things don't go the way we had hoped.

Catch the wisdom of series and set.
Yes. The wisdom of the "many" and not the "one". When I was making traditional pieced blocks I remember the enthusiasm for the first block, the tedium of the next 10, and then the time and space to fiddle with the remaining blocks. Guess which blocks are commented on?

Have a low commitment for courage and creativity.
Isn't making art all about courage? We put outselves "out there" and people say things about our work. That takes courage. To share and to listen. I do think we all discount the amount of creativity we have. We want things to be perfect. And really, perfect is never creative.

Make variations on themes and motifs.
I did this last winter with my red pear. I painted a watercolor of the same pear every morning. Different light each day. Different mood on my part. Different pear. Yes, the pear. It aged gracefully. Then I moved on to oil pastel. Each painting says something different but the same.

Build proficiency on the personal game-board.
I think this may mean doing what you do best even if it's not what other people are doing. And that's difficult. Working to do better each time. Learning from each piece. Accumulating knowledge and craftsmanship. Series. Making mistakes. Letting yourself make mistakes.

Overcome the natural tendency of preciousness.
Now this is the gorilla in the art room. Making things that are "precious". To you. Most likely not to anyone else. Taking ONESELF too seriously. How much is that piece of fabric you just worked on really worth?

Use natural selection to drive potential larger work.
Most of my Good Works have been on the small side. I have tried to translate them into Larger Works but it is very difficult. What worked small, does not have the depth of field in the new, larger size. But large is always more attention grabbing isn't it? So I think I must work harder on the translation from small to large and perhaps in the "doing" learn what makes the Small Works so good.

Lots to think about. I have plans today to make some very Small Works out of paper and paste. Little Valentines. I will share them with you as soon as they are finished. I also purchased some vintage red beads and plan on making a simple red bead necklace to wear on Wednesday. I'm all about the RED this week.