February 4, 2020

The usefulness of constraints

It’s easy to put limits on ourselves. To see these things as barriers that prevent us from doing what we want to do. My desk is too small. I don’t have enough time. I don’t have a ‘space’. I can’t afford to do art. I can’t draw. But barriers are only barriers if you see them that way.

Of all the mediums, why did I start with watercolour? (Apparently, the most difficult, according to oil painters).

Well, because my desk is too small (for acrylics). I don’t have the luxury of time (that oils demand). I don’t have the ‘space’ (to store artwork that takes too long to dry). I didn’t have a lot of money (to afford canvases, brushes, mediums, etc.).

Watercolour, for me, is the ultimate medium. It dries fast. It doesn’t stain my furniture (much). It only needs a piece of paper, which is lightweight and can be as big or small as your circumstances require. It’s cheap to get started. It’s portable, too.

Barriers are only barriers because we imagine them to be. If we try to use our constraints and see them as shaping us, rather than limiting us, maybe we’ll discover something that fits in with life, but still feeds our soul.

Other observations
October 1, 2024

Surrounding the idea

Might the act of mark-making be a pathway to the subconscious where we get to meet a version of ourselves we’ve never met before?

September 24, 2024

Feeling useful

Why are there so many people wanting to be published in children’s literature?

September 17, 2024

Abstraction and invitation

What benefits come from leaving room for another human or two to intepret and find meaning in the work we make?

September 10, 2024

The amateur artist

Why do so many kids stop drawing at the age of about 10. And what if they didn’t?

September 3, 2024

Who decides?

Who decides what gets to embed and live continuously in our culture for hundreds of years? And if it does, does it mean it’s good?

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