AVOIDANCE AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Into the Woods
5" x 5"
acrylic on canvas
$125 framed

I wrote on October 2 about artist collaborations and the first of a monthly meeting with travel and food writer and old friend Donna Tabbert Long. That first meeting set a fire under my (fill in the blank). I hung one show and submitted a proposal for another. I finished six small acrylics. I sketched a thumbnail for a graphite drawing of milkweed pods. I’m close to completion of two spirit houses. (More on these later...maybe.) My gallery is ready for this weekend’s big art crawl. What I didn’t complete was my assignment: to write about my creative process.

The backstory: As Donna and I talked, it became clear that our creative processes needed more structure. Past experience told us that committing to 25 pages a day (Donna) or a painting a week (me) would get us nowhere. Nope...we needed something more tangible, more concrete. Donna’s assignment for me: To write about my painting process.

And thereby lies the irony. I discovered that I get a lot done when I’m avoiding the one thing I’m supposed to do. So, while I completed more work in a month than I usually accomplish in half a year, I avoided the “gotta do” -- write about my creative process in order to understand it better. Oh. I just did that, didn’t I? Clever sneaky Donna! I think I owe her a cappuccino.