Letting Go
April 8, 2009 by Janice
To get to another shore you have to let go of the one you are on. I am really not sure what the next piece is. But I am excited about it. Really. I have no idea, except that it is about migration, travel, and letting go.
Welcome to process between the signposts.
Yesterday as I was working, tracing some thoughts, the drawing for another painting planted itself clearly in front of me. It is the pencil drawing in the photo. It has notes attached to it that tell me I want to explore the lines intensely, tonally. Become absorbed in them. Give myself over. And when I am done, cut it up. Yes. You heard me, cut it up, an exquisite drawing or painting. 16 equal parts and then place them at random. Like a puzzle of itself. The graph paper for the plan is just under the drawing you see. And there’s a blue post-it too with some brilliant notes on it about this becoming an abstract piece on raw canvas. Unstretched canvas. Very refined lines on a raw edgy ground. I did this drawing some time ago. And put it aside.
It’s been there waiting for me.
And now when I am listening to jazz about “across the tracks blues” and working on the Chaos series, it plops itself right down in front of me . “NOW. Trust me. Now.”, it seems to say.
So I pulled out a brush and some subtle color and some handmade paper from Thailand. NOT watercolor paper again. It’s a paper that Kiki Smith uses. I have so far used it for drawings of shells. But there’s something I want to try. This seems like the time to do it. The pencil drawing was planned before the storm. The graph is recent. And this seeming randomness, well that is the hand of John Scott gently putting this here, now. There is something I haven’t discovered yet. There is something of trains and travel and letting go that I need to know in this.
And there are necessary lines.
Really. I picked up the brush and the lines flowed. Not perfect, not fussy, just the ones that have to come out of me. The necessary lines. And they felt good. I just let go and did it. The brush fairly floated, or it floated in some places. The paper responds quite differently than “normal” paper. And in those places it did not float, where the resistance was, I went back to the well and added a bit more water and wash.
Hm, this feels very, very good. Breathe. Flow. Let go.
The best, most relaxed simple lines and washes. First washes, first lines. And then the next step came to mind. It requires another different paper and maybe some pencil lines. Hm, or maybe ink. Or maybe both. Not sure. I’ll try them all. See what needs to be there.
Letting go to get where I want to go. This feels very right. As a friend recently said, just commit and jump in. So that’s what we ‘re doing.
And by we I mean you, too…Hah, you think I ‘m jumping alone? Got a project that’s been niggling at you? Why not experiment?
Comments
11 Responses to “Letting Go”
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Wow! That sounds fascinating. Will it be hard for you to cut it up? I love the notion of what it will be like.
sue’s last blog post..“Let us celebrate the occasion with wine and sweet words.” (-Plautus)
I think it will be very hard to cut it up …and very exciting. But it’s funny, several moments in time are pushing me to do just that. BE sure to remind me when I balk with the scissors/xacto blade… LOL
I am liking this more and more…
Does writing a fiction novel count, Jan? Coz that’s what I’m doing now. Letting go, to go where I’ve wanted to go – for years!
Dr.Mani’s last blog post..SUPER
I love that feeling of something “waiting for me” to work on. It’s like knowing you have one piece of lemon meringue pie left in the fridge.
Experimenting is hard but eventually even the best technique becomes a bore. I should experiment more than I do. And I do have a piece “niggling at me.”
Diana’s last blog post..All wells eventually run dry in the desert, cont.
this sounds SO exciting!
Sadly the only painting I have been doing this month is on walls! You do inspire me to get out the watercolors.
But cutting it up when I am done? Brrr…scary.
Wendi Kelly’s last blog post..Dancing with Daffodils
Neat process. Have you ever done something like this before? (the idea of taking your creation and then destroying it to make something even more unique)
Hope it turns out well.
Fred H Schlegel’s last blog post..Cardboard Creativity… Making Do While Making Great
Hi Fred,
Good to see you here. Hm, have I done this before? Not exactly like this. Only more in the gathering stage. For monoprints, or for a couple of project activities I designed for others,or collage. But not on a “regular” piece of mine. And hey, the cat just spilled water all over this early this morning. Hah, the irony. But It will dry. And we’ll see if that alters the process. Thanks for stopping by.
Dr. Mani,
Writing a fiction novels absolutely count. Can’t even play baseball without letting go of home and running freely past all the bases.
Diana,
I love that, like a piece of meringue pie left in the fridge. I say get it out and grab a fork. Even if you nibble at it a bit at a time.
This was a good article for me! I tried something new and I sold it (yay!)
I have other new ideas and
@Wendi – I painted my walls too this week (thanks a lot they look great) But I’m still not done…
And, I found a painting at a friend’s house I did for them about 30 years ago and it was exciting. I had forgotten all about it.
Diana’s last blog post..This Old Man came rolling home
Diana,
That is so terrific. Congratulations! I suspect you have other “pieces of pie” just waiting for you. Discovery is such a wonderful thing.