Leave Room for Magic
In my previous blog, I found myself confronted with the need for rest. Putting my paintbrushes down, I finally embraced a much-needed period of simply experiencing life and pondering the new opportunities that have appeared on the horizon, as if by magic. Though I only did a bit of writing and a handful of sketches lately, I’ve been thinking about painting a lot. I reflected on what I have been working on and where I’d like to go from here. Many times, I have discussed that being an artist is a creative journey, intertwined with the effect of real-life events. This past month has been no different. People you meet along the way tend to shift your perspective and, in turn, shape the creative outcomes of your work.
Drawing my favourite statue in Central Park, NY (May ‘23)
With the weight and pressures of social media aside, it has been nice to just breathe. Fate found me spending a couple long weekends in New York, and my current day job (all emerging artists have one) allows me to be close to the beautiful coastline of Rhode Island. Additionally, an unexpected, chance meeting with a like-mind has had me seriously reconsidering my approach to my artwork and its content. Don’t worry—I am forever pursuing fairy tale subject matter in one way or another, but I have certainly started to question my business practice and workflow. These new inspirations have been the transition I didn’t know I needed to go from my period of rest to a state of artistic gestation. I know that this is right where I need to be—on the verge of a creative rebirth.
It is important for an artist to go through periods of reflection like I have been of late. I believe that is what keeps your work interesting, honest, and true. These times require a lot of patience and diligence as emotions are turned into thoughts, which then become creative action. Now that I am nearly on the other side of this cycle, I have begun to look back at what I was doing and how I was doing it prior to this past month of new experiences. I have started to compare these practices with the vision of how I’d like to shape my future and what it will take for me to get there. Luckily, I’ve realized that I was already heading in the right direction—I just needed to reorganize how best to move forward with my endless wave of creative ideas.
Finding joy and beauty again in the most unexpected places
If you’ve been following along this year, you’ll already know that I’ve embarked on a long journey through fairy tales, their origins, and meanings. This has spawned many side projects in addition to the Fairy Tale Still Lifes portfolio that I have been working up to (among other things). Oftentimes, my mind becomes a waterfall of great ideas, and I must sort through them to find the most impactful way in which to represent them. That is what I am doing now. Some of the ideas that I had started earlier this year I now recognize as exercises toward what I am supposed to be creating in my career as a fine artist. Then, there are those future ideas with deep roots from my past. It is time the latter were explored more fully, and it took some adventuring and self-exploration for me to see that.
Meeting someone and taking pause can have such an effect on your perspective as an artist. This is why it is so imperative to take whatever time and space you need from your studio work when you are feeling burnt out. Artists spend so much time alone that it must be balanced with the opportunity for serendipitous interactions. The survival of all artistic pursuits depends upon it. I preach about the magic of fairy tales and create works of fantastical imaginings. What type of artist would I be if I also didn’t leave room for a little magic in my own life?
“A bird may love a fish, signore, but where would they live?”