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Look forward to welcoming you there.

Sheona

 

Sometimes iron will is just not enough.... and you really just have to go with the flow...

For once the rain was not the "one" keeping me indoors....
No, the day was glorious unusually bright and sunny.  A real clichée of a spring day!
This, I am sure, is what brought on the urge, the incredible "not going to leave me alone" urge
to tidy-up, hoover, de-cluttered and refresh a studio still bogged down by the winter blues.

Don't run away yet, no cleaning, dusting or polishing technics will be  discussed or detailed in this post: promise.  
Allthought, I did get many household tools out and ended up using them 
(hoover, duster, glass cleaner, polish, rubbish bag...) and feel quite up on the subject.
Actually, I'd much preffer to show you what I found in my "organised" mess.
Apart from feeling on top of things again
(amazing how vanishing clutter can do that!),chuffed to bits for having conquered the pain of organising and knowing that no projects, commissions and tasks 
had been forgotten (found loads of ticked "to-do-lists"), I unearthed some little hidden sketches. 

Recovered from the under my pile of "must file" are a few of my naive attempts at colour.... 
Interesting how instead of destroying them I buried them...

Nice to be able today to revive them and give them a little light.
Here for your viewing is one simply known as "Blue Skech". 

p.s: Now the studio is done...the house really could benefit from a wee bit of freshning up.  
Good thing the urge has still not left me alone!

Cheers for now

Ever had the feeling that your feet are never going to stop stamping out of frustration? 
Read on: this is my way letting off a little steam.
I'm a Mum.  I'm an artist. 
Both are driven by the heart, demand loads of love, energy, understanding and devotion. 
Are they compatible?  Absolutely. 
Are they rivals? Absolutely.
Both careers require time in bucket loads and are not 9 to 5 jobs. (Ironically, no matter how hard one tries 24 hours is the absolute max you can get out of 1 day!)
Both require huge amounts of flexibility (which eats up on the others time!) and both are rivals on the depletion of inner energy levels.
Who ends up winning?
Well at the moment my mother instinct has the upper hand (I am very glad to say!) so where does this leave my art? 
Gathering dust?
Hiding under piles of work?
On hold until tomorrow?
Waiting for the children to grow up?
NO, no no! (thank goodness!) 
Having to surrender, now and then, some of my art's needed time, flexibility and inner energy  leaves me with a determination and drive, when I am working, that I have never given it before. 
The determination to succeed and become the best artist I can, despite the unpredictability of motherhood, seems to be actually fueled and not hindered by this rivalry between being a Mum and an artist. 
It really has made me so much more determined and wanting to tackle bigger challenges.

So, back up to the studio: Xmas orders are coming in fast and so is the common cold!

Ciao ciao.

What is art?  The question is huge.
Will answering this help me be more creative?
Will having answered this challenge me, make me grow?
Will giving an answer help me sell my art?
Yes on all counts.
Why? Quite simply because an answer will demand thought and careful thought at that. This will ultimately lead to having a good look out of the box , more knowledge,a better understanding of a vast subject and an increase in confidence.
The great thing is that the answer just like the subject of art can be as subjective and personal as one likes.
Art, is something that comes straight from the heart.
It is something which comes alive without boundaries. Making it unlimited.
Art is something that takes your mind places, your heart places.
In my case it has been a steady discovery of myself, a wonderful way of facing fear and dealing with life. A reason for stepping up to reality.
Art is the reward for patience, deep emotion and gritty determination.
Art causes the viewer to react, to feel, to think.
It connects with the viewer and becomes something that you (the viewer) cannot take your eyes off.
Something that stays anchored in ones memory.
Great art stirs thought and something very deep within.
(Interestingly enough The Fine art studio Newsletter's issue # 105 guest author Keith Bond covers this point in his good article "Art is language".....this is when I like to think that great minds think alike!)

There is something so intangible that makes art special and really, at the end of the day, it  boils down to what we like as individuals.

Have I come any closer to answering the question of what art is of what makes art art? Maybe not. One thing for sure is that I have been pondering about the answer for days now.
Tried to keep focusing on making some kind of sense of the ramifications the question has led to.
As I mentioned in the beginning , the nice thing is that there is no wrong answer and I feel as though have dotted my I' and crossed my T's...!
Back to the drawing board to let loose of some of that gritty determination...
Ciao ciao