Dipping into Ponds

(sculpture sketch from this week)

I have had the privilege to be able to sit by the pond across the street lately and read and sketch/write.  The weather is beautiful and soon I will be busier than I can imagine, so it's important for me to take some down-to-earth time.  

This sitting time is like taking an "art date" (a date for yourself, just for seeking out inspiration.  I like to go to book stores, galleries, other people's studios, and just check out the internet).  But sketchbook/reading/sitting time is the best for checking into where I am at the moment.  Sometimes I don't know exactly where I am and therefore I feel lost and aimless in my studio.  This time of sitting is a really good time for journals and artist statements to reflect on what I'm thinking about and how I'm feeling.  

It's amazing how often I realize I've had repetitive thoughts in my head that I didn't fully realize I was having.  For example, I was writing about how I felt really stuck on a sculpture.  I also wrote how irritated I was that I could really "see" it because there was too much stuff in that corner of my work space.  I didn't fully realize that was bothering me until I wrote it down.  I went right back in, cleaned out the corner and got a whole spurt of energy and ideas for the piece.  

We have the natural ability to know when our activities and attitudes are healthy and productive, or when our activities are destructive and poisonous.  It's important to learn to listen to our intuition about these things.  Unfortunately our culture doesn't generally teach us how to listen to our intuition, or even value intuition at all (In fact, capitalism depends on us being stuck in our negative, unhealthy states of mind so that we feel like we need external things to fix us).  Listening to our intuition is something we not only have to learn to do, but to learn to recognize in ourselves.  

"Dipping into The Pond" by Betsy Watson

Along with the book "COLOR" I have also been reading:

I HIGHLY recommend this book to any one in a relationship (and anyone who believes their life is about evolving as a human being).  It's based on the idea that love is the new frontier in our society.  Most of us no longer live in a culture that holds relationships together when they become difficult and so we must make conscious decisions for ourselves about how to evolve as human beings, and how relationship acts as a teacher and the most vibrant place to do this growing and learning.  

Happy Making!!