Three Of Us At Work

I spent time in the studio this afternoon and realized after a time of struggle, then grateful realization, that there were really at least three of us at work.  I was there, watercolor and brush in hand, making marks, putting down color in a search for meaning and idea.  Clumsy marks and false starts here and there, a new sheet of paper, a different size, another format...and then I realized I was aware of the part of me that listens, also present, occupying my very chair.  The one who knew when it wasn't right, the one who drove the process forward, keeping my hand moving and by all means, keeping me out of my head, because for me, "thinking" of an idea is never the way to go.  Once I understood what it was I really wanted to see, instead of what I thought I should want to see, the part of me who lives deeper still, was aloud to speak. Once there was enough information from all the false starts, I was able to see what it is I am to make.  But I know that I couldn't have gotten there unless I had made all those attempts, because each one was a tiny step closer to the breakthrough.  I think it really takes all of our senses, in a very internal way, to make art.  I was hearing the music coming from the CD player, but it was another kind of hearing and listening that opened the door.  It was a process of keeping my hand moving, listening and seeing, a sniffing out what I was really after and finally a real taste of it, when I connected the dots and really understood the thing itself.  I understood the form the work would take and that its open-ended content is pattern.

I am very interested in pattern--decorative pattern and the patterns that abound in the natural world...the formation of sands in the desert, the structure of plants and flowers, bird wings, insects...and that's just a tiny bit of naming, as pattern governs everything, the seen and the unseen. Any investigation into pattern is enough to keep a person busy for a lifetime! I'm excited about some new work...while still keeping up with the ongoing Seasons Cycles and my daily found poetry blog...and learning to play the banjo!