Yesterday I avoided the studio entirely. I stayed in the cabin with the books and catalogs and computer, learning more about how to frame paintings and collages. I'd been especially puzzled about how to frame "deep" collages that need a lot of space below the glass. Found my answers online.
Also I cleared out my clothes closet and got out summer shorts. As with the books, I didn't get rid of as many items as I'd expected. But the ones I kept are comfortable and look okay on me. And if I needed to make a trip to a gallery tomorrow, I could do it.
In the shower this morning I started hearing "who do you think you are?" voices and "you can't do paintings and collages, you make bowls!" "No no no!"
Still, I went to the studio with some zest. I compared 8x10 with 9x12 formats. The 8x10 looked awfully small. Finally I realized that the hottest spark I felt was for drawing 1 inch grids on the 9x12 watercolor blocks. I saw that this size grid would enable me to carry out one of my hottest ideas.
With a sense of leaping out of a plane with an unopened parachute, I began. Did six in all, then put everything away. Of course I enjoyed it all, and it seemed effortless.
Next will be experimenting with painting a relatively thin line. I used to do some brush lettering with black acrylic paint, so I don't think this will be a big problem if I practice a little first. And I don't necessarily need the gridlines to look like printed ones. It may be better that they're a little uneven.
Still, I can hardly believe I'm really doing this. Me? Painting?
"Maybe I really just saw pictures of my ideas and someone else has already made the paintings and collages I have in mind. I'm just bringing them up from distant memory, and they're not really my ideas at all."
"I'm a bowlmaker, remember? I have some training working with iron. But nothing says that I can paint."
Etc. etc. Blah blah blah. Ha! I'm doing it anyway.
4:33:33 PM 
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