I have long dreamed of a white washed, south facing, floor to ceiling windowed studio with flecks of paint dabbling the vintage hardwood floor, a rustic wood fired stove in the corner, and a view of the ocean through a web of palm leaves.
But too much time thinking about the perfect space has been stolen from the moments I have today. In my own real life, in my home studio garage that is very much still a garage, with storage all around me, and florescent lights, and no windows, and spider webs.
I’ve thought about what it means to carve out a creative practice right here and now, though it often seems life conspires against this. My paintbrushes are often neglected because of a messy kitchen, long overdue calls to family, bills, errands, and just plain exhaustion.
Honestly, I’ve wondered if life would be easier, and more straightforward if I wasn’t so distracted with creative ideas. I often think if inspired impulses didn’t pull me from a very practical and straightforward reality, I wouldn’t be keeping textile scraps around for years, just begging to be used. And yet, I can’t part with my mom’s old bright orange curtains from her first house 40 years ago.
All around the house, objects hold stories. Some items were handmade with love, others were methodically assembled in a factory. Some printed, some cut from trees. All around me, there are items that have come from somewhere. Each one has a story, and in one way or another, each one is on its own transformative journey. An artist within a home space can readily ignore, or take all of these items into account. I am thoroughly jealous of creatives who can push everything aside, or take it all to the thrift store, and focus on one thing, and one thing only, in the haven that is their sublimely clean house.
I’m not exactly like that.
I plunge my hands into soapy dishwater and admire the composition that the bubbles make, seemingly for me, in that very instant, art that is site specific, and dazzling. I take the cutting board and notice the delicate, sand-sized breadcrumbs scattered over the gashes from years of knives cutting this way and that.
I see a pile of compost in the container beside my stove and just wish that everything would stop so I could grab my newsprint drawing paper and do a quick charcoal sketch of the myriad of interesting shapes and textures.
I look outside my window and wish that I could capture the way the sky changes throughout the day; often a subtle transition of silvery blue and grey tones. I wish I could capture the way that plants twist up and around the railings, and the way that the large cedars sprinkle their needles all over the deck. The way that the sky fades to black and then the twinkle of stars, and how the shine and glow of the moon is different each night. The way the sky fades into morning, with pinks and oranges, entertaining crows as they glide overhead by the thousands en route to adventure, every morning.
And yet, life seems to call my attention away from all these lovely details of my home, even though, all the while, the lovely details call to me.
This year, the year that I am the Artist in (this!) Residence, I hope to take note of these details, if only in subliminal ways, letting them impress themselves into my creative life. I want to show this life of mine that I am paying attention, that I am in awe, that I am thankful for it.
There are a few ways I hope to navigate this year:
Painting two bodies of work: one called Complex Notes, and continued work in another known as the Nature of Nature. I will delve into two mixed media related bodies of work: What to Make of This, and textile works, called Relics.
My hope is to write my way through the year, in hopes of intentionally living a creative life, here at home.
I’m honoured to have you along for the journey, and while I hope in the writing process to learn a thing or two, I’ll be glad to share what I’ve learned with you, and look forward to the ways that you’ll be adding comments or emailing me about your creative life in response to these words here.
Here’s to being an Artist in THIS residence, today!