It Turned on Me!

My "Solitude" piece has somehow turned on me - I am about 95% finished, and I can't seem to bring myself to finish it! This happens to me sometimes (though never for commissions when I am determined to create a successful piece for the client), and I think that the best solution is to put it away for the time being. So I am starting a different piece this week, a traditional head and shoulders portrait. I am looking forward to starting because this portrait will have a simple background and be mostly about the face. I'm hoping my motivation to finish "Solitude" returns by the end of the week...

A Change of Pace...

I just finished a house portrait commission, which was quite a change of pace for me. I typically accept people portraits exclusively because I enjoy capturing faces and expressions so much, but I was quite surprised to find a hidden motivation to work on this portrait and to give it as much character as I do when working on people. I thought of how my house is my favorite place to be, the place where I spend most of my time with my husband, and am comforted by familiar surroundings. Our quaint New England house is certainly not large, but is rich with memories and even decorated with some of my artwork. When I think of my home in this way, I can attribute to it character and a sort of “personality”. I thought of this when working on my latest portrait of a little beach house on a lake. I tried to make the surrounding trees sway inward, as if bowing in reverence to this little home, and the white sand as a soft carpet leading out to the lake with water moving playfully in the breeze. I hope that the portrait serves as a lasting reminder of happy memories spent there. If I obtain permission from the client, I will post a photo of the portrait in an upcoming blog. For the time being, I am back to people portraits…

Subconscious Problem Solving

During my workday, when I’m not working on my art, answering e-mails, or doing other business related activities, I take some time off and pursue something completely unrelated to art, and I’ve found that this time has been most valuable to me as an artist. I think it has something to do with subconscious problem solving – my best ideas come to me when I’m letting my mind wander while running, playing the piano, or even working on a Rubik’s cube (yup – those are my hands in the piece above!)

Ever hear the phrase, “Work smarter, not harder”? I find that rather than agonizing for hours over how to handle a background, tweak the subject’s facial expression, or even promote my art, simply stepping away from the problem can help me to arrive at the solution much faster.

Can any readers relate to this? Do you “zone out” at work and find it helpful to your overall productivity? Post a comment and let me know!