Greasing the Wheels | Jennifer Noxon
It’s the end of October, we’re busy putting away, transplanting, de-potting, re-potting, trimming and putting the gardens to bed. The fall planting of garlic is always a highlight of this season as it holds the hope for the spring yet to come. With the leaves drifting down and temperatures getting cooler here in eastern Ontario, we are well aware that winter is a cumen!
I don’t usually get into the studio during summer but the colours of the fall, the rich hues of red, yellow, orange, green and all their tones, serve as inspiration and the kick in the pants that I need to return to the studio. The hardest thing about stopping the process of painting for a long period of time, is the getting going again, finding the threads left dangling, exploring the ideas simmering on the back burner, and entering ‘THE ZONE’ of being in the moment where magic happens.
In order to grease the creative wheels, there’s several things I do…
-seek out art done by others that excites me, in books, magazines, and artist sites, galleries
-get quiet
-spend more intentional time alone – take myself on regular artist dates
-get outside and minimize computer time (the distractions of mundane day-to-day busy-ness making and cleaning can always wait!)
-give myself some simple parameters/ exercises
-get in the studio and PLAY! - with colour, various materials, shapes, collage – anything! Put my inner critic in a box and give it a rest!
Giving myself permission to PLAY is the most important one. We spend a lot of our daily lives NOT playing as adults. PLAY is the most freeing activity and can lead to the most satisfying AHA! moments and new threads of discovery. This also involves trusting the process and being present (no cellphone or computer in the studio. Music is definitely part of my play experience). Anything goes! Sounds like a recipe for living life. This article from thecreativelife.net is a straightforward, quick read about PLAY.
As far as greasing the wheels go, I’ve decided to start a painting several times a week for as long as it seems like a good exercise. I have a whack of 6” x 6” pieces of board on which to paint so they are expendable and plentiful. Jennifer Noxon
