My husband and I were discussing New Year's resolutions last week and he said his was to "stay the course". I had to look up the meaning and found that I liked what I saw. According to the Cambridge English dictionary online, to stay the course means "to continue to do something until it is finished or until you achieve something you planned to do".
That definition fits in well with where my thinking has been going in the last few weeks. As I mentioned in my last post, I had some time at home at the end of December to putter and work and think about how the past year went. Moving forward, my intention is to keep on keeping on. My use of the word "intention" rather than resolution or goal is [ahem] intentional. An intention is an aim or plan, as opposed to a firm decision to do or not do something, which is what a resolution is. Past experience tells me I need flexibility more than firm decisions when it comes to my art-making, even if I have a specific goal in mind!
So, to put down my 2020 intentions in bullet form, here are my plans to "stay the course" in the upcoming year:
Eager to begin with my intentions and "use what I've got", I spent the last three days cleaning spruce roots that were gathered a few years back. They have been waiting patiently for me to use them and taking up studio space but are not readily usable until cleaned (i.e. de-barked) and split. By bedtime last night, I had all of them cleaned (or so I thought), some of them split and my studio was a mess of peeled bark.
As I turned out the light, I saw another bucket of roots - luckily few enough to hopefully clean in a day. I'll do that on Friday and give the studio a thorough sweeping on Saturday. While I managed to split some of the roots on Friday, I'll have to leave splitting the rest for later this spring, once I've answered another call for submissions. I'll start that project on Sunday ;-)
That definition fits in well with where my thinking has been going in the last few weeks. As I mentioned in my last post, I had some time at home at the end of December to putter and work and think about how the past year went. Moving forward, my intention is to keep on keeping on. My use of the word "intention" rather than resolution or goal is [ahem] intentional. An intention is an aim or plan, as opposed to a firm decision to do or not do something, which is what a resolution is. Past experience tells me I need flexibility more than firm decisions when it comes to my art-making, even if I have a specific goal in mind!
So, to put down my 2020 intentions in bullet form, here are my plans to "stay the course" in the upcoming year:
- Maintain current practices. I was pretty successful this year at developing some lifestyle practices and don't want to lose them as I move forward: daily art activities, regular fiddling and biking/exercise, ongoing learning.
- Build my repertoire. According to the Google dictionary, a repertoire is a "stock of skills or types of behavior that a person habitually uses". Having successfully added near-daily exercise and fiddling to my repertoire last year, I wonder if I can find the time to add something else to my habitual routines - without losing what I already have. Ideas for this include:
- continue working toward a complete body of work for an exhibition of dolls
- re-visit past themes. My youngest and I will be exploring watercolour together this year. We live 800km away from each other, but with email, Skype and other online resources, we'll be able to enjoy each other's company as we meet our monthly challenges. There is also that ongoing wish to develop a drawing habit...
- learn more fiddle tunes and attend fiddle playouts this year
- Use what I've got. When I cleaned up and organized my studio in September, I realized what a wealth of riches I have. There is no need for me to go out and buy supplies to create my art, unless there is something specific I need for a project.
- Share what I do via my blog, social media, exhibitions and teaching
- Embrace opportunity
- Answer calls for submission
- Attend Quilt Canada 2020 with a longtime friend
- Take workshops and classes to build my repertoire (I already have a few lined up, whee!)
Eager to begin with my intentions and "use what I've got", I spent the last three days cleaning spruce roots that were gathered a few years back. They have been waiting patiently for me to use them and taking up studio space but are not readily usable until cleaned (i.e. de-barked) and split. By bedtime last night, I had all of them cleaned (or so I thought), some of them split and my studio was a mess of peeled bark.
As I turned out the light, I saw another bucket of roots - luckily few enough to hopefully clean in a day. I'll do that on Friday and give the studio a thorough sweeping on Saturday. While I managed to split some of the roots on Friday, I'll have to leave splitting the rest for later this spring, once I've answered another call for submissions. I'll start that project on Sunday ;-)
Comments