I will throw pill bottles at the next person who tells me that artists have always been depressed outsiders.
Is it art if I hang something I found in the trash inside a frame that my studio-mate was throwing away?
That said, I’ve been feeling a little depressed and left out lately. I should be painting. Every day I tell myself to go to the studio and paint. But I rarely do. I go to the studio and clean. I stay home and knit. I crochet bowls and organize the tee-shirts I will need for typesetting class on Thursday (it is awesome!). I make origami of a manageable size. I get supplies for my sculpture (working title: self-portrait in the asylum) and wonder what colors I should paint my walls now that I’ve stripped the wallpaper. I talk to my friend Rachel about starting a new religion; first step: magic wands. What I don’t do is paint.
My current painting, entitled, It Should Have Been Finished Last Month
Am I not a painter any longer? Or do I just need a break? What do you sad, disenfranchised painters out there think?
Just a peek: Self-Portrait in the Asylum – underway
hmm. what I think- my 2 cents? ok. I think overtraining is a real issue for everyone…why not artists. why not you? Athletes will train and train… *overtrain* and then when it is time for the competitive event… they fall way short of expected performance. Only solution- a break. Everyone needs one. *Really …look up overtraining in athletics. Liz- you are an artist whether or not you ever paint another painting….it is the way you see the world, it is the way you live…. the way you think.
Does that mean you may be introspective– sure. Some people, not my people, but some people think introspection is the same as depression. You don’t impress me…as someone who *presses anything down*…. that’s depression. Who isn’t an outsider….who doesn’t want to be an outsider…. I, for one, always liked living on the edge of town…(so to speak). Now, what was the question? The things you are doing…the life you are living…your vision…. yep, you are an artist. hooray! makes me happy. No worries… the painting is coming. My 2 cents. Sandy
From one fellow moody artist to another, my advice to you when you feel like this is to, instead of telling yourself you will paint tomorrow knowing its probably not true, tell yourself instead that you will NOT paint tomorrow! And lo, you will not, and you will not feel guilty, and instead feel liberated of expectation. I take breaks from work anywhere from a few days to a few months if things just aren’t feeling right or if nothing good is happening. And without fail every time I begin again, when I feel ready, my work changes in the direction I wanted but could not foresee.