Musings…

It’s been a while since I sat down at the computer let alone taken the time to post a blog, but the last few days of intensive de-cluttering, yarn sorting and power-washing have taken a toll on the knees…so a few hours of catching up with the blog and the bills feels like a blessing right now.

I’ve been busy at the easel as well since our return from the summer MV show and have a collection of paintings ready to ship to Denver for Gallery 1261’s small works show in November and some new ones to send up to the Granary as well. I’ll be unveiling them soon but here’s a sneak preview of one whose title came to me as I awoke one morning, “The fragile delicacy of paper thin truths”…

Ah, the wistful days of late summer, when my creative and physical energy is at its lowest ebb and it’s still too hot to feel enthusiastic about planting the winter crops, and all of the easy, fun and inside chores have been crossed off the list and the already aching joints are staring at the yet-to-be-completed tasks like…

Finish laying the stones in the patio.
Clean and sort the entire garage.
Organize all the tools in the shed.
Finish the greenhouse and move all the garden books and tools inside.
Trim the trees and overgrown shrubbery back in both yards.
Fill the woodshed with firewood.
Prepare panels for the coming year’s paintings…which can’t be done until you go back to the “clean and sort the entire garage” entry .

So today I will rest and maybe I’ll regain the energy to cross off one of these tasks tomorrow…but they are calling for more 90 degree days this week…so…maybe not so much.

You all stay safe and cool out there…

 

Creative Maturity

An imaginative and beautifully designed magazine, Martha’s Vineyard Arts and Ideas, is the creative brainchild of Patrick Phillips. A few months ago we spoke about including my work as one of the featured artist profiles and it has been published in this month’s issue.

http://www.mvartsandideas.com/arts/artist-profiles/heather-neill

When I spoke to Patrick earlier this summer I was preparing to work on a painting which had the title, Aren’t we aging well…which I wrote about in the last blog entry.

The musings in MV Arts and Ideas, about “aging into creative maturity”, were in part a reflection on how I was going to interpret the title for this intimate portrait of myself and Pat…but were also part of a current dialogue that I have been having with the muses about how, even as a mid-career artist…read, she’s gone through enough sketchbooks and pencils to fill a spaceship…there are still daily moments of uncertainty as I sit in front of the easel.

I expect that most of you artists out there who are of a certain age are also still balancing the confidences of craft with the moments of dreadful doubt…especially since so much of what happens between the brush and the panel is a mystery. I’d love to hear how well all of you are “aging”.