Creativity and Curiosity

Rondo With Attitude Acrylic on Canvas,  16"x20" 

Yesterday I caught a podcast from Public Radio Station from the program On Being.  It was an interview with Elizabeth Gilbert.  Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of Eat, Pray, Love which has now been in print for 10 years.

Elizabeth Gilbert also has her own podcast called Magic Lessons http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/magic-lessons/

Here is a quote from Elizabeth that I really can relate to from an article by Melissa Dahl:

I think discipline is a bit overrated in the creative field, and self-forgiveness is underrated. We all start our projects on day one with passion and excitement, and all of us look at what we did on day two and hate ourselves. The difference with people who return to work on day three and the people who don’t is the people who return to work forgave themselves, knowing you did the best you could with what you had at that moment.  Elizabeth Gilbert

So, I try to keep showing up.  Some days are better than others in the creative front.  Some days more productive, some more technically proficient, some more expressive...yet some days nothing really happens. But, forgiveness, curiosity and persistence makes for a slow progression of improvement.

Today I included a painting of Rondo, my three year old Shih Tzu, Bichon Frise mix.  I tried to use a big brush and few brush strokes letting the black gesso show through as much as possible.  Easier said than done.  Knowing when to stop is critical in this type of painting.