Periodic Contemplations on Current and Future Directions

It has been raining steadily today-- a beautiful, soft rain with gentle, cool breezes. While Alabama heat will no doubt continue for at least another month and a half, nature is making it clear that another summer is drawing to a close. I have picked up my artworks from Lowe Mill and the Gallery on the Square (though a Unique Views retrospective is on display at the main Huntsville Art League gallery until the end of this month). Huntsville's summer schedule of art events is dwindling. It is this time of year when I begin to think most poignantly about where my art is going and where I want it to go, how to take it there, et cetera, all of these questions about creativity and growth and where I have been, road analogies included. These are important contemplations, I think, for most artists, and, after much pondering on my balcony, developing techniques, exploring concepts, and re-focusing myself are high priority activities for me at this point. I have already begun to move in these directions by returning to my #Draw365 project (something I had been taking a break from) and redefining my previous goals for it. I will no longer limit my medium to ballpoint pen, and instead of drawing "everyday" subjects, I would like to simply draw whatever comes to mind at the moment, whether it is a study of a masterpiece or something surreal that I imagined [above, Clockwork Woman]. I now want to use #Draw365 to explore my imagination a bit more freely, without concerning myself with "finished work".


My second way of responding to these thoughts has been to start transforming my figure drawings into gouache paintings [above and below, Pretty Pin-Up #1 and #2], something that will develop patience and precision given that I rarely work with watercolors. Taking up acrylics has broadened my stylistic reach quite a bit, so it is logical that watercolors should also be added to my repertoire and analyzed thoroughly. Along the way, I am sure I will make plenty of technical "errors"-- I have not played with watercolors with any level of focus since middle school-- but I am already surprising myself with my results and the pleasure I am taking in the versatility of the paint. Once I open my mind to a new medium, I find that it has much to teach me.