I've gotten a few emails, calls, and comments about my post saying that I am going through a time of creative block. Thinking about it while weeding the garden (a great thinking place) I realized that I wasn't being totally honest with myself (or you, I guess) about that. What I am going through now is a natural creative season for me. And, speaking of seasons, it is also what happens at this time of year almost always in my creative cycle (the exception being if I am working on a deadline). In spring, I turn away from the studio and go into the garden, do much neglected house chores, and start filling my sketchbooks. In the summer, we have company. It's the best time of year for people to visit this part of the country. And my work requires long stretches of solitary time. So I am very rarely productive in the late spring and into the summer. My most productive time comes in the fall, when I burst out of my incubation time with a creative fervor that is stand-back astounding!
All those who study and talk about the creative cycle speak of this needed time of incubation. It is a time when the artist is gathering and processing new information, and it is whirring around up there somewhere, ready to pop forth in an idea at any moment. It is actually a marvelous time for artistic growth. And I am, this year, prime for new ideas! I have finished all series work and am not committed to anything concrete. So, welcome all muses! Stir up that creative soup that is simmering on low in my mind, and bring it to a boil by fall!
In the meantime, I'm doing little non-product sketches every day, working in the garden, taking lots of photos, going to graduations and weddings like crazy, getting ready to enjoy family company very soon, reading great books, getting ready for our Honduras mission trip, working on an ATA exhibit, and incubating my next better-than-anything-I've-ever-done-yet work of Art.
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