Blue Lizard, ink on wood, 3x2, April 2010 Judith Nasse
More often than not for me, my art pushes me beyond myself, beyond who I am as a person and an artist. It's helping me become slowly, so slowly become the person who I have always dreamed of being. And sometimes, it's tough going, even downright painful. Like the lizard who loses part of its tail and has to wait for it to re-grow, keeping his balance as best he can in the meantime. Most challenging for me is to put my art out into the world. This month I had two pieces featured in the NM SCBWI newsletter! And in my Book Writing World forum, I'm practicing out-loud the pitch that I will use in a query letter to agents for my book. I'd rather write or paint than do the marketing. Yet, I'm daring to put myself out there a little bit more. As much as we dream our dreams, we have to dare to put them in action! What is your challenge and action for this week?
I was reading a newsletter this week by the artist Robert Genn, who urges his readers to try painting differently so that they can inform themselves about new ways to approach their canvases. [ www.robertgenn.com ] An art trip can do the same thing when you can get away. I just got back from a camping trip to Chaco Canyon where I sketched, painted, and photographed to my heart's content. Some of it was a challenge as to how I could sustain an ink drawing to the end ~ of the myriad, closely mortared, small vertical stones in the ruins. It sure takes a lot of patience when the sun is beating down & flies are determined to land on anything. The end result though is always so dear, the perseverance paying off in drawings to draw from in the long winter months to come. The inspiration one gets for one's media, like the A.S. Byatt book I'm reading [Virgin in the Garden], that feeds me new words to sing in my head & to write into my book, is the treasure one receives when one paints a new way, plays a new note, or sees new sights. What has inspired you this summer that will last through the autumn and winter?
I picked a colander full of chokecherries yesterday, and my abundant raspberry crop is resting in the freezer for me to make into jam this week. Not sure yet what I'll do with the chokecherries (and yes, I left plenty on the bush for the birds): jam, syrup, liquor? I'm visualizing containers for them for holiday gifts. I also finished my novel this week. Strange that I don't think at all about when the raspberries or chokecherries will be ripe. Nature has its own timing, which I trust. The novel, I worried about a lot. Would I finish it? How long would it take? Am I taking too long? I don't have answers. Now that it's done, and I look back, this novel had to take this long ~ nearly 20 years. It's the one I was learning with while I finished raising my children and while I gained skills and confidence in writing, not to mention research and research trips. I'm thinking now that each novel, each creative piece, has its own pace. Isn't nature a wonderful analogy for our own growth and progress as creatives?
We all have an area of our creativity that is our biggest hurdle. For some it's the plot, for others it's the daily discipline, for yet others it's the self-doubt about the rendition, and for yet others it's the facing the blank page, canvas, stage, or musical score. My hurdle is putting my work out there whether it's a piece of art or a piece of my book. Last week I did get brave & sent a couple of my paintings to the SCBWI-NM (Society of Children's Writers & Illustrators) newsletter. They were graciously received. This week I have to do a reading from my novel to my writing group. After that, in the autumn, it's sending pitches & query letters. Oh, my! The only way I can get through it is one little step at a time. Yesterday I received inspirational help when John Dillon & Viv Nesbitt came to the bookshop for a multi-media presentation of John's wonderful new book about the creative life,The 20-20 Creative Solution. John shared that he used to be ultra shy, and now he sings on their syndicated radio show "Art of the Song" as well as in concerts! My on-line writing community on http://bookwritingworld.com/ is also committed to help each of us. Maybe soon I'll be able to pitch my own work as well as I can pitch John's book here, our book signings at the store, or others' books and art! What is your biggest hurdle, and what kind of support do you find to help you jump over it with ease?
Yesterday the illustrators from SCBWI-NM (Society of Childrens' Writer's & Illustrators-New Mexico) met at Lois Bradley's studio in Albuquerque. Lois' illustrations for the award-winning picture book Blind Tomwere the featured topic as Lois took us through her process from winning the illustration commission to the final reward of seeing her book in print.For those not familiar with the, sometimes grueling, always gratifying process of creativity, no matter the media, note that it takes diligence, discipline, sometimes bleary eyes, and lazy dust-bunnies to get the final song, dance, painting, or book out there. The trick is to love it with a passion, to go step by step as Lois did, and then celebrate when your piece is published, sold, or performed. Do look for Blind Tom in the childrens' section of your favorite independent book shop! Blind Tom was a famous blind horse in his time who helped build the Transcontinental Railroad commissioned by President Lincoln. Enjoy & keep on with your wonderful creativity.
At the Taos Summer Writer's Conference this year, one of the author/presenters Rob Wilder had us happily sell his young son's postcards! Ah, childrens' art, my first and favorite style of art. My love for childrens' art and picture books led me into wanting to be an illustrator, which led me into wanting to also be a fine artist. This month I will finally have a chance to go down to Albuquerque to have fun with my illustrator's group! It's been a year since I could get together with them ~ way too long! Also inspiring, and so useful at the conference, were two new books out. One is John Dufresne's Is Life Like This? The book takes one through six months of writing a book, including all those wonderful anecdotes and moans we writers have such as life's time eaters and how to write anyway. It's all done with humor and real advice. John lives the writer's live! Priscilla Long's The Writer's Portable Mentor is the new fun tome that combines the Chicago Manual of Style advice in exciting palatable form along with fascinating exercises, plus how to write and get your book out there. So far my two favorites are making my own word journals for my current book and playing with verbs. I finally have permission for using the same verb over and over in a paragraph for emphasis! It's all in learning the skill!
Two years ago I put up a bluebird nesting box in my yard. No birds came, and no birds came. A couple of days ago, I was watering and a bird whizzed by & went into the nesting box. All I could catch was a glimpse of brownish colouring and wings whirring. I could see straw sticking out of the wee round hold and was happy that I finally have a bird tenant! I haven't seen her since, and now am beginning to wonder if she was an illusion. I don't think so as I have plenty of blackbirds nesting in my eaves. Is she a bluebird, sparrow, or some other bird? I'll let you know when I see her again. Her nesting renews my faith that whatever we truly wish for, from our deepest being, will eventually find its way to us. Since I last wrote I have dived deeply into my art and writing. My creativity is something I wish so hard for over 20 years ago when I first discovered I had a creative gold vein, un-mined, deepwithin. Now, it's coming fully into being, fully into the core of who I am! Like the bird now nesting, it has been worth the wait along the road of learning and practice. What is your inner gold mine?
