in process

it's thursday.  i know this.  i keep reminding myself everyday this week, so that i don't get too mixed up.  (just to make matters worse, my kids have no school on friday.  so today feels like wednesday and like friday all at the same time.  yikes.)

it occurred to me,  while swooning over rachel's dish photographs earlier this week, that i've been so busy preparing for the show that i haven't shared anything i've been working on lately.  

it was a twisty train of thought that brought me to this place - rachel's photos reminded me of the bottles and jars i've been painting, and tara's photos reminded me of the horizons i've been painting, and then i remembered that i haven't posted any new work lately, and then i thought about all of the notes i've been taking and sketches i've been making and things i've been thinking about my painting and how i haven't shared any of that here.

so i thought i'd share a tiny bit today.  

after i finished my work for the show - back in march - i found myself somewhat adrift creatively.  i had been working toward the show for so long, that i wasn't really sure where i was going when that work was finished.  that was hard - not unexpected, but hard - being adrift.  and so i played - with monoprinting, and india ink, and my oil pastels (which really feels just like coloring with crayons, only grown up - i love that).  and i played with landscapes, and i played with flowers, and i played with bottles and jars.  

all of that playing was really really good - like exercising muscles in my brain that i had forgotten about.  all of that playing was frustrating, sometimes, too - i like knowing where things are going, and the wandering takes me out of my comfort zone.  but it's good, too - the wandering.  because that's how new land is discovered.

so i've been wandering, and playing, and discovering.  it feels like some ideas are starting to gel, and i'm really looking forward to exploring those ideas further.  and in the meanwhile, as long as the weather cooperates, i'm planning to paint outside as much as possible this summer - because i'm absolutely not finished with the horizon.  

Comments

[Sarah Jackson]

Those are lovely! I'm hoping to stretch myself this summer a bit by doing some painting (which I have never done). I'm in love with those jars. If you're ever thinking of selling one of those....

[Katie]

Love the vivid flowers - I'm excited to see where your wandering takes you! I love the line about discovering new land by wandering. thanks for that.

[Tracy]

the wandering, the playing, its so important to us, and yet, so difficult sometimes, isn't it? I feel that too.

[beth]

I love what you've been working on...the colors and calmness are wonderful....

[erin]

i get this.i haven't gone back to that quilt. probably because i really don't know where it is going. i should probably dig in.

love that bottom sketch.

[rachel | buttons magee]

these are so great Em. I am finding myself in a weird limbo mode right now. I probably ought to start playing around some myself.

[beki]

Play is so important, isn't it? As is going in unfamiliar directions.Gosh, I love your work! Every time I see it, I get the urge to start painting.

[Kendall Micayla]

wow, beautiful work... every piece is amazing.

[heather smith jones]

i still really love that monoprint.and love that you will paint outside as much as possible this summer. not sure of anything better than that!

[Jeni Shirley]

Nice. I like this green one.

[Grace]

beautiful, beautiful work. and i love hearing about your process, too!

[molly]

and you're absolutely painting here this summer.

(love the colors in that last one, em.)

[Tara Thayer]

Oh, my. I hadn't seen that bottom one. Those colors, and shapes, and wow. Love it.Can't wait to see where things go this summer for you and your painting.

[cloth.paper.string]

love hearing about and seeing where your wanderings are leading you, emily. there's something about not having a destination that allows for the ever important happening-upon.

and, that last one strikes me so - something about seeing that yellow and pink on kraft paper.

[gkgirl]

loving the colors and patternsin what you are working on...very intriguing.

:O)

[amisha]

i love this post emily. i think that wandering can be so hard, and so good because it's hard... it's always incredible to see where it takes you. thank you for sharing this process.xox