By: Sandy Booth
Sometimes I go to the studio to work on something specific. And sometimes I struggle with finding inspiration or purpose for making art.
Last week I found myself really struggling to create anything that satisfied me. I put acrylic paint on paper, I dripped ink on Yupo, I got out some collage materials and absolutely nothing was working! The colors were all wrong, my mind was scattered and I was just not connecting to anything.
So when I get frustrated I sometimes give myself a little pep talk. I told myself that I needed to paint myself happy. Sounds crazy, I know, but it works.
So, I looked through my paints and just randomly picked some of my favorite colors. I grabbed a gesso board and a pencil. I drew some big sweeping shapes, just to feel the space on the board. From those shapes I decided to choose the colors that seemed best for each space. Pretty soon I was in my happy place! I played with color and shape with no preconceived expectations. I just painted. It was heaven.
As you see the resulting piece is bright and cheerful with a balance of small details in the white highlights.
As in art, so is life. When you’re having a bad day - just paint yourself happy!!
