I moved houses. Unfortunately, these 3 words don’t tell you how exhausting it was. This move and the previous renovation of the house took all of my strength. So much power that unfortunately there was no room in my brain for playful, easy creativity and blog articles that deal with it. But sometimes that’s the way it is. It is necessary to concentrate on the most important and essential things. Fading out everything else and sometimes saying “no” so as not to be distracted from what has first priority. To join forces.
Now you are probably wondering what I’m getting at. Especially since this blog is about painting and creativity. But – my move made me think about concentrating on the essentials. And that is sometimes necessary in painting, but also in the rest of life. Painting can be relaxation. But when your head is full, the deadline pressure is great and you have too many construction sites, it will be difficult to let go completely and to really get into the flow. But what to do
On the one hand, it is important that YOU set your priorities and the focus and no one else (yes, I know, I can talk well, my children are out of the house and grandchildren are not yet in sight) You also set the time frame that you set for YOUR Need things. And don’t let yourself be dissuaded from setting your own priorities. On the other hand, it is sometimes difficult to focus yourself. Finding out what really has first priority. Not to get bogged down. If you still manage to shovel free time for yourself and your art, then I have a tip for you: Lower your expectations and accept what shows up. The life situation in which you find yourself will probably be reflected in your work. That’s really authentic.
The move helped me to put things in order. Finally sorting through the chaos on the desk, in the appointment calendar and in the head. So that I can focus again on what is essential for me: painting.
So it was all the nicer again 😉to paint right at the beginning of the new year (and after a successful move including the crammed basement in the studio. If I was initially still worried about being able to get involved, I was in my element for the first second. It was a relief to dive into my world and that of color. The pictures for the next exhibition were made with great clarity, because I could let myself go and still know what I wanted. During the renovation phase that would not have been possible .
Through the thoughts described at the beginning, I noticed that setting focus can also be related to the image design. A few questions I would like to ask you:
– Which picture theme do you want to convey, what is your important picture message, what is the picture about? If you answer these questions, it will be easier for you to part with the insignificant areas that are causing too much chaos😉
– Have you formally managed to achieve concentration in the picture? Are there points of view that guide you through the picture? Or do you not even know where to look? Answering this question also helps to track down the essentials.
– If you have focal points in the picture, do they direct your gaze to the message you have set? Or do they counteract this and draw your gaze to other places or even to the edge of the picture, where the gaze is quickly lost?
Even with a spontaneous and process-oriented way of working, it is good to pause and take a look. These three questions will help you to become clearer about the content and form of your picture.
And so the lack of writing during my mammoth relocation project was perhaps good for something after all
