Limitations and constraints are often beneficial, when it comes to the artistic process. I sometimes wish I wasn't quite as accomplished at creating time constraints for myself, though!
A call for submissions came in from Two Rivers Gallery a couple of months ago,and I spent quite a bit of time perusing ideas in my head as to what would fit the theme for the proposed exhibition. When I answer calls for submission with new works of art, I generally want to be sure that what I create will add to my own artistic development, either by refining or expanding upon a skill or process I have used in the past, or trying a new technique that pushes my abilities forward.
This thinking process took quite a while, and it was only in the last few weeks that the ideas solidified, and doll on my "to do" list made it onto the "make it now" list. This, of course, introduced a time constraint, as the deadline for submission is in 7 days, and I am still a ways away from finishing what I started not so long ago.
Add to that the fact that the Christmas season is fast approaching and my baking needs to be started, so I can send off a cookie parcel or two. In addition, there is a staff party with a Secret Santa handmade gift exchange in two weeks, so guess what else I'm doing at the moment?
The benefit of all of this is that I don't have time to do what I usually do, which is to dither and dawdle and procrastinate. My ideas are now crystallizing quickly, and being put into action much faster than if I had weeks left on my agenda. The results may be different from what I first imagined, but I can already see some interesting things happening that I hadn't predicted when I started.
Only time will tell if I get this project finished on time to answer that call, but even if I don't, I'm enjoying the process and making something that I have wanted to make for quite some time.
A call for submissions came in from Two Rivers Gallery a couple of months ago,and I spent quite a bit of time perusing ideas in my head as to what would fit the theme for the proposed exhibition. When I answer calls for submission with new works of art, I generally want to be sure that what I create will add to my own artistic development, either by refining or expanding upon a skill or process I have used in the past, or trying a new technique that pushes my abilities forward.
This thinking process took quite a while, and it was only in the last few weeks that the ideas solidified, and doll on my "to do" list made it onto the "make it now" list. This, of course, introduced a time constraint, as the deadline for submission is in 7 days, and I am still a ways away from finishing what I started not so long ago.
Add to that the fact that the Christmas season is fast approaching and my baking needs to be started, so I can send off a cookie parcel or two. In addition, there is a staff party with a Secret Santa handmade gift exchange in two weeks, so guess what else I'm doing at the moment?
The benefit of all of this is that I don't have time to do what I usually do, which is to dither and dawdle and procrastinate. My ideas are now crystallizing quickly, and being put into action much faster than if I had weeks left on my agenda. The results may be different from what I first imagined, but I can already see some interesting things happening that I hadn't predicted when I started.
Only time will tell if I get this project finished on time to answer that call, but even if I don't, I'm enjoying the process and making something that I have wanted to make for quite some time.
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