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art, artist, arts, brush strokes, canvas, Christ, Christian, Christian artist, creativity, forget me nots, illustration, inspiration, Jesus, jubilee, oil painting, paint, painter, painting, picture, Psalm 139, valued
Thanks to the Queen celebrating her diamond jubilee, we’ve got four days off. Which is great, as it’s given me a little time today to get to ‘nearly finished’ with my Forget-me-not project.
I say ‘nearly finished’ because I’m at a bit of an impasse at the moment, unable to decide whether to put any more work into it or not.
Did you ever get that with a picture? You know, where you keep looking at it thinking “I think it’s finished, but I can’t decide whether to leave it alone or not”. One more stroke could be the difference between genius and disaster! Well that’s where I am with this piece right now.
That made me think about how we present our work. I don’t mean in terms of frame and setting etc., I mean about how we talk about it, describe it. Because presentation can make a world of difference between someone liking it or being indifferent to the work. It’s very similar emotionally to how you offer a gift.
If you offer something with a “do you want this? It’s no use to me anymore”. Then the person being asked will probably tend to feel that the object in question is of no value. They’ll probably be kind of thinking “well thanks, if it’s no use to you what makes you think I’ll want it. I’m not a charity you know”.
But if you present a gift as if it is of value to yourself and treasured, then the recipient is much more likely to feel a sense of honour and responsibility for that object.
Talking about your work (and yourself for that matter) is a similar process. If you talk about it as if it’s not very good and you’re not happy with it, then people may tend to feel similarly about your work (or you). If, on the other hand, you are positive in your assessment then it may well colour the viewer’s opinion much more favourably! Of course if it really isn’t very good, no amount of positive spin may change the facts in front of the viewer, but at least they’re more likely to be polite!
So making the decision to like your work and value the time and effort that you’ve put into it will hopefully help others to feel similarly about it too. Perhaps if we decide , intentionally, purposefully, to feel similarly about ourselves, then our whole outlook on life and our work may change too. If we feel that (as I believe) we are unique, a one-of-a-kind, a masterpiece of creative thought and intention, loved, purposed and intended, then others may value us more too!
Anyway here are today’s shots of the Forget-me-nots:
“Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!
I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!”
From Psalm 139
This is so true. Thank you for your thoughts…..you have caused new ones in me.
Thanks. Hope the new thoughts are positive ones!
also…..I wish I had you illustrating my book instead of the yahoo slowpoke I hired. Your work is wonderful. next time?
amazing.
Thank you
I am always fighting with myself whether or not my work is ‘genuinely’ finished or if I am just inpatient! That is why I try to create positive manifestations just as you said! It is nice to know that I am not the only one…
Definitely not the only one! I think all artists have the same feelings, hopes, fears etc., as each other. It is great to have that reassurance though! Thanks for taking time to help confirm that belief in me too… We’re not alone.
Ah yes – I know that line well. And have crossed over to the dark side of disaster quite a bit (I’m pretty new to creating art). It is a fine line, indeed.
It’s a learning experience. Be nice if it was an easier lesson though eh
I don’t see anything you could add except for maybe some more white splatter in the bottom center and right. This is a really amazing piece. I love it and I am not even a flower kind of person.
Thanks Jake. Always appreciate a fellow artist’s comments and encouragement mate
What a beautiful painting. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Jacqueline and thanks for dropping by the blog and taking the time to leave a reply
“One more stroke could be the difference between genius and disaster! ” ALWAYS!
Painting is such lonely work. You are always inside your own head thinking things like this- that is why I love blogging because there is such a sense of community.
Agreed. It’s really cool to be able to see the work of, and communicate with, other artists working around the world too!
Love your work. Great style.
Its a giant show and tell out here! And Thank you so much for all your encouraging comments and ‘likes’ I really appreciate it!
Pleasure. Keep up the good work.
I’m just starting out with blogging and painting. This post really hits all the right spots. Thank you for sharing.
Reblogged this on drawing with happy colors and commented:
I am never confident with what I do and the artworks I produced. At the back of my head, there’s alway “Oh someone can do this better than me” or “I’ve seen someone with better skills than I do”. So I end up doing a lot of things half-heartedly. This article by Mr Ian Goldsmith really hits all the right spots. As a new aspiring painter/blogger/artist (Ok, I don’t even know I should be calling myself an artist yet. Oops.. there we go again – the confidence.), I do feel that this is the main thing that I need to work on myself. That is to learn to love and appreciate the work of arts that I produce.
What we act like is eventually what we become. So if you act like and artist and believe you are one, which you obviously are, then that is what you will be… if that makes ANY sense whatsoever!
I’ve seen your portrait work Lilly and the lip sequence and they are really good! Definitely an artist.
Thank you so much for the kind words on inspiration. Definitely going to hard from now on.
Is it finished? Does it need a little more tweaking? Sometimes my best bet is to walk away, go to bed, get a way from it and when I see it again, I usually know. Usually.
Great thoughts here, thank you!
You’re quite right. Absence is great for clearing your head and giving you a new perspective. In fact I’m working on a portrait right now that I thought was going really well, but having come back to this afternoon I can see a lot that I couldn’t earlier!
Oh well, back to the drawing board / easel…
Thanks for dropping by and leaving a lovely comment.
Great post, thanks for sharing thoughts that go through all our heads!
Actually, knowing that those thoughts go through other people’s heads is encouraging to me too! So thanks for your comment Rasha (so glad I checked, nearly called you Leanova!)
Hehehehe no problem, I’m used to it!
On the mark! I know exactly to what you refer. I’ve done a number of pieces in which I really have to discipline myself to walkaway, assume a sort of ritual to ensure that I stay away from a completed piece and don’t fuss about it and mess it up, or hold on to it and don’t reveal it to anyone until one day it finally hits me as to what I need to do to finish it off.
Much of this indeed affects other aspects of my life.
Beautiful still lifes.
Thank you. And thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience too, it’s always really affirming when you know there are others that have the same thoughts and feelings about their work and work practice