I’m going to be that person that says ‘can you believe it’s August already! Sorry, I know. The weeks keep ticking by and as each one passes I have to remind myself how lucky I am to still be here, at this age, with my health, doing this life, this way.
Time in front of the canvas can often lead to a lot of unavoidable navel gazing. Though helpful for personal growth, having too much time to ponder the meaning of life, particularly at this stage in life, can often be an obstacle to surrendering to pure creativity. Having a busy mind that jumps around a lot also doesn’t help. I often forget the lessons I have already learned, so keeping my mindset in a place that works for me is a constant practice and it sometimes takes several lesson circuits before my nervous system accepts them as truth.
Life values and life hopes are something I have been reflecting on lately. The precious and limited time of our lives. I have been questioning if I am making the most of what is remaining of my life? Am I doing this at the moment, as nothing can be taken for granted? I am not wanting to be morbid by mentioning this, but more intentional. This post resonated with me this last week because it fit so well with how I see my life values. It reminded me that I don’t have to have the same goals that the current society would have us believe we need in order to live a good life.
For me a good life doesn’t mean one without goals, but definitely one with less worrying, striving and more intention. When we know what we truly want from our lives we have more chance of making those dreams happen, not wasting our valuable time on this earth working towards a destination we don’t actually want to travel to.
Now that I have completed the last of painting deadlines that I have been working on since the end of 2022, I plan to make time to sit and do a deep dive with my life values for this time in my life and how my art business will reflect these. I admit have been striving a little more than I would like to ensure that I have completed work for all of the galleries that represent me this year and this has been both enjoyable and challenging.
Working as a full-time artist, supplying paintings to multiple galleries, work being sold internationally was a huge dream of mine and I am so proud that I have achieved it, but I admit I am tired. I want to find a way to work more efficiently and intentionally. I want to create space for all the creativity and individuality to come through that is a core value of mine for my work. I have never wanted to be in the business of mass production and love to paint what I want to paint. To be honest I don’t get paid enough to paint what other people want me to paint. As harsh as that may sound it is true, as often the only way to make more income as an artist is to mass produce. The constant search for connection is a core driver for the paintings I create and I believe that painting one of a kind pieces, as an expression of my soul, is the best way to do this. Each original painting is painted in a moment in time that will never be lived again. I hope that the freedom I feel when creating shines through in my work.
I am excited to be releasing new unique artworks in the coming weeks through two of my galleries who have been patiently waiting for these pieces to be complete, but they have to be right before I will release them into the world! :) Please make sure you are signed up to receive my newsletter if you are keen to see where these will be available. I can’t wait to see where they will find their forever homes. Paintings have recently travelled both to the US and Switzerland.
Whilst I was writing this blog this timely song from Miley Cyrus came on…
Keep on moving, keep climbing, keep the faith
What am I climbing towards? Making sure I stop along the way to take in the view, recognise how far I’ve already come and decide what direction I want to go next.
Wishing you a great week ahead x