‘Tis the first Sunday of Advent 2014. Just can’t believe it is upon us here at the
Cottage Door Studio. Seems like
Thankgiving came and went faster than the blink of an artist’s eye and here we
are in December. I would love to spend
some time starting new paintings, or rethinking and revising a collection of
rejects (which I lovingly and stubbornly call “works in progress”), but my
daytime job as director of curriculum and the busy holiday task schedule demand
attention. I could get flustered and
exasperated if I don’t get enough rest right now, so I have made the choice to
feel successful each day if I just walk into the studio, pick up a brush and
dip it into water and paint, then apply a stroke or two on paper before I go to
bed. Somehow that little commitment allays the fear that I will “lose my touch”
or my commitment to my passion, painting.
How about you? How do
you balance the need to paint (or to do whatever form your passion takes) with
other parts of your life during this busy season ? I’d love to hear from you, especially if you are an artist or a writer, and need
blocks of quiet alone time to pursue those gifts. And, of course, though I no longer have small
children underfoot, I clearly recall a time when I did. Being a wife, mother, grandmother, sister, or
significant other is a calling we take seriously, don’t we? How do we sustain those relationships, our
prayer-life, housework, etc. and also challenge ourselves to produce beautiful and successful paintings?
So, that is today’s topic “through the Cottage Door” as I
invite you inside my studio, on at least a weekly basis, to explore various
art-related (or not) ideas, share thoughts, or just comfort and challenge each
other in our world as artists and people.
I hope you will fix youself a nice mug of hot cocoa (lots of
marshmallows), Chai tea or coffee, put your feet up for a few, and just read,
think, maybe pray, and often respond.
Why, you ask? Because I love most
of all to paint people, and if you and I exchange thoughts, you will help me
learn more about myself and about the
people in the world around me.
All the better to paint them authentically, My Dear.
‘Til next time, then, Happy Advent from Elizabeth.
