Sunday, November 30, 2014

"through the Cottage Door"

‘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.