The Wasp
Art as a necessary distraction
I was filling one of the chicken’s waterers this morning . I brushed what I thought was a pesky deerfly from my neck and quickly realized it was a much bigger culprit.. Wasp! My body racked by the shock of the stinger the intense burn of pain..the swelling.. Luckily my reaction was not an anaphylactic one -but nonetheless it hurt ! Cold compress, wash the site , a little wound spray, antihistamine and two hours later the pain had subsided . It rattled me and reminded me of my human vulnerability.
Feeling and recognising pain and our whole range of sensations,humanity and feelings is all part of who we are as people and artists. Your hurt, your missteps , your heartache ,your joy and your growth all interplay into your art practise .
Lately I have been working out how I can merge my love of collaged elements with drawing into my paintings. Experimenting within the smaller confines of my home made sketch book has become my current artistic pursuit. Working small within a forgivable substrate frees my inner art editor to break loose !
I noticed that while I was drawing and manipulating images I forgot about the sting. It provided me with a beautiful distraction.
I am not suggesting you tempt bees or wasps to sting you in order to focus on your art -but for me it was simply a reminder of how art as a focus can reduce pain,provide meaning, offer something meditative and boost endorphins ..etc etc.
Taking time to experiment without result is an important activity for any artist.
For many years now I have worked with capturing an idea and immediately finding a way to transfer this concept into a finished painting. I worked fast and was quite prolific as time constraints demanded this of me.
Taking my time to explore an idea-playing with the media and style can actually be very satisfying I have recently learned!
In conversations with my artist peers I have learned that a stifled sense of direction , lack of earnings form current art , and just feeling unmotivated can truly affect production of art for the joy of it .
It seems when we feel that sense of pleasure creating-we create our best work! (If not in the moment ..then at least later !)
some pages I have been playing around with in my sketchbook
So the next time you get stung (by a bee, wasp, hornet ..or life!)
try to do what’s necessary to treat it
and get back to your art or (in my case also)..writing!.
Heather
Thank you for sharing your work book and process. A terrible habit to admit, but all my life - as a young artist to now - I have collected sketch books. Little beacons of hope encouraging me to sit down and fill them up with work. But it just doesn't happen. I want to reverse this trend. Maybe this is my wasp sting. Thank you!
You know it’s August when the wasps start biting! I am trying to do a retrospective of my work. This is a struggle, mostly because I don’t want to look back. Can’t decide whether to do everything in order or do two, one for my collage career and one for painting.