Back in the Studio

I’m back in the studio today. There is nothing like a sick kid and then an open studio to disturb the creative flow. My studio is so clean it looks more like a gallery. It has been such a mess that I hesitate to lose the benefits of actually being able to see my work. On the other hand work must be made. I always care more about making it than what it looks like anyway. Seems like something I shouldn’t tell anyone but once the painting is done and the “looking at it” stage takes over it’s time to move on to the next work.

I’m helping with a teens knitting group at the library. One of the girls has taken to knitting like wild fire. She’s a maniac. That’s what I was like. Deep down inside I just love the tedious, repetitive and sometimes boring process of making things. Sometimes it might seem that it doesn’t matter whether it’s knitting or painting as long as I’m making something. But the truth is that while knitting (and similar crafty activities) use some of the “making stuff” energy it’s never enough. What is it about “art making” that draws me in so completely…repeatedly? Most of the mental activity in my studio process is asking myself questions. Why this and not that? etc. And I guess the biggest why is “Why Art?” It’s not useful (read this with an Arlo Guthrie like pause… if you don’t know what that is then go listen to Alice’s Restaurant or the Motorcycle Song.) or appreciated and yet it remains compelling. I was reading Elephantoms: Tracking the Elephant by Lyall Watson. He includes a segment about elephants making art. Apparently they have been known to do this in the wild, not just in the zoo where the trainer hands them a paint brush. Something very interesting to think about. WHY would an animal make art- why in fact does anyone make art? And of course WHY does anyone CONTINUE to make art???? If you think all of this is leading to an answer or revelation, it’s not. Not yet anyway. The great thing about asking yourself questions as an artist is that you can do it while making art. Ha.

Below some of what was going on in the studio before last week’s interruptions.