It's wonderful to be painting again after a long break. Writing the Children of Myth trilogy absorbed my life for a very long time, and there was little or no space in my life for visual arts. Now that I've been taking a short break from writing, art has taken over once again.
This week I completed an abstract painting after many hours of painstaking work. It is a piece of considerable complexity and I’ve recorded a short YouTube video, describing the process and the inherent difficulties in creating such a detailed image.
If you click on this photo, it will take you to my YouTube channel and the Complex Abstract Art video.
Even though I plan to paint more abstract artworks in the same vein as previous pieces — juxtaposition of objects in negative space — recently I’ve been feeling quite excited by the prospect of exploring different techniques, focusing more on line and texture. It’s all experimental, and this latest work actually surprised me, since what emerged was quite different from what I originally envisaged.
This is a large part of the excitement and fear generated by painting, exacerbated by the usual performance anxiety and imposter syndrome which besets most artists.
'Will I be able to make something of this, or will it be a complete mess?'' asks the stern, negative voice.
'Or will it perhaps be something wonderful?' whispers the creative one who yearns to put brush to paper.
Holding these two voices in tension is a daily part of the artistic life — as much for writing as it is for painting, pottery, collage, whatever your genre may be — but hold them we must. It's the only way we can share our own, small vision with the world and hope that it brings someone joy.