Ten Weeks: Overview

I was not productive enough, so I put myself on a schedule. A ten week schedule reminiscent of my college days (we had ten week quarters at the time, not traditional semesters). Ten paintings, ten weeks. A tall order for me since I was only kicking out one or two things a month. But even though I have a part time job and a life, I managed to stick to it.

Here are my fears: that I have not picked the right path for myself, that I've failed as an artist, that everything I do is a huge waste of time, is stupid, and says nothing. I'm even afraid to use my own paints and panels for fear of wasting them, and therefore I've wasted my own money on those materials. I worry about time, the perfect time to start something (hint: there is no perfect time).  Even right now, I cannot yet physically bring myself to draw what I want in the goof-off time I have; I've got it hammered in my head that it's so stupid to begin with. I'm stranded on Lonely Artist Island and "that" voice is loud and clear and the only way to get by it is to work and to trust that it's fine.Well, my plan didn't cure it, but just set me on the path to be able to create--a start.

Just ten paintings. Some would take longer, some shorter, doesn't matter, just have to have ten at the end. Doesn't matter what size, media, or complexity. I want the work to be coherent, but it's coming from my hands, heart, and brain, so somehow, it must be... I worried about repeating myself in the paintings, but that tied the work together even more.

It exceeded my expectations.  My painting mortality rate was only 20%! 8 very good paintings I can stand behind came out of this, and I had started 10. I painted what I felt like given the goals I'm drifting toward (full time gallery artist). In my case, it turned out that painting in [what I'd call] a rational stream of consciousness, I have three or four things going on between my pictures. The discovery is that no matter what I make, it's probably going to funnel into one of four, maybe five kinds of my pictures. That's comforting, gives me confidence to talk about the work because I can distinguish it, and means I have lots more to make. Seeing the work all together does give a sense of accomplishment and coherence. Huge reward. Like two term papers finished during a single overnighter reward.

I am now on what I am calling week eleven, the break week, fun week to do and make whatever I please. So far I chose to blog, put finishing touches on the 10th painting, and plan the next Ten Weeks. I was so surprised I wanted to keep rolling since I promised myself a no consequence recess! Next week will be the start of my next quarter. Ten more paintings again.

In the next post, I'll talk about the (*cough* phony) rules of my Ten Weeks complete with horrifically boring documentation, how it changed (indeed it did), and pictures (they aren't all dry/varnished/photographed yet).