Monday, December 04, 2006

Thanks to steady nudging

...from Ariel and H, I finally made my way back into the studio yesterday. The first task was to ready the space for the work I've been avoiding. That meant removing all the work from the walls and putting it in racks and flat files. A big job. I've never done that before, but I decided a new approach was necessary. Out of sight, out of mind. A cliché, yes, but an apt one. Anyhow, H did this for me because many of the works are too large for me to handle without damaging them or myself. By the end of the day the studio was ready.

This morning I walked into a fresh space. Easels with fresh white canvases. Bare walls. I booted the computer, clicked on CBC, took a clean sheet of watercolour paper out of the drawer and before I knew it I was lost in the work. What an incredible day. And incredibly exhausting. Best of all, the work I produced has a freshness about it. A freeness. I imagine that's because there was no work on the walls to influence my eye. Some paintings practically tell you what you should or should not do. "Ya. Do that. It's safe. It worked for me." Or "Eek! Don't do that! What are you thinking? That's what you did to me and I'm not going anywhere." Today there was nothing but CBC, and it had nothing to say about what I was doing. I just painted. It was heavenly. Of course, my little good luck cat, which I've had since I was a kid, looked on with a straight face.


This cat has been painting with me for more than twenty years and it will be there when I turn on the lights in the morning. Needless to say, I'm excited about painting again tomorrow. No nudging needed now.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

You STILL have that cat?

Anita Daher said...

Yay--you GO girl! Cute cat :-)

Brenda Schmidt said...

Yep, I still have that cat. It's going grey and that one eye looks suspiciously cloudy, but I think the cat will last as long as me and then some.

Thanks, Anita!

Tracy Hamon said...

Lovely that you're focused on painting again, and that you're energy is strong.

However, I'm beginning to get a little concerned with this fake animal fixation. What other symptoms do you have?

Anonymous said...

You should definitely paint the cat.

Ariel Gordon said...

"Fake animal fixation..."

"Paint the cat..."

Heh.

Brenda Schmidt said...

Tracy, what if I dedicate my book to my plastic cat? Would that be a symptom?

Rhett, I will not paint the cat. The cat and I will grey gracefully together. Or do you mean paint the cat?

Ariel, just because they're dissing my cat doesn't necessarily mean they share your unnatural position on fake and stuffed animals.

Tracy Hamon said...

Yes. I suppose that is, although in that particular case I believe your bordering on a bit of a fetish.

Brenda Schmidt said...

Fetish schmetish. Where's a curse tablet when a person needs one....

Anonymous said...

Your paint tubes look cleaner than they used to !

Anonymous said...

Define: Gracefully

(I meant it literally, paint it. Although at first glance I thought it was a painting of a cat and pill bottles and I wondered what you were using to inspire yourself. Hopefully, just the dream of candy.)

Ariel Gordon said...

She probably cleaned them so they'd be worthy of being in a picture with her fetish object...

Brenda Schmidt said...

Ya, Mom, it's amazing how quickly I cleaned up my act once I was the one paying for my supplies. :)

Rhett, that's terrible! Sure, bring up the candy. The candy I won fair and square. The candy I know I'll never see. For those of you who don't know what the candy thing is about, I won a candy on Rhett's blog. Rhett refuses to pay up.

Brenda Schmidt said...

Har har, Ariel. Mind you, I did move the ugly tubes to the back...

GM said...

Nudge nudge. A nod's as good as a wink to a blind bat.

Brenda Schmidt said...

Heh? Are you saying I'm as blind as a bat or are you calling me an old bat? Either way, pooey to you.

I look forward to hearing you on CBC tonight. Not that I'll be throwing tomatoes at the speakers or anything. Nope. That would never cross my mind.