This is my first blog posting. From my quiet home and studio in the woods I decided it was time to connect with people who share my love of and interest in artmaking. Being an artist can be such a lonely existence, in your studio making, thinking, experimenting. And it is with a thought towards experimentation that I start my blogging life.
Lately I have been experimenting by working with collage and wax to create plates to print off of. I have spent many days at the press, and many dollars on paper, only to have most of the prints end up in the recycle bin. The paper sticks, the press pressure is too loose, too tight, the print is too busy, too light, just not right in some way. I have had to suspend my attachment to outcome and to creating a product that might end up being exhibited. As an artist who supports herself by her art this is a difficult thing for me to do.
When I teach my glass classes this is the thing I hear over and over from my students: how freeing it is to “play” and try new things, how fun it is and how energized they are by the process. I do think it is vital for an artist to let go and just see what happens from time to time, suspended from a goal of ending up with a product. It is what moves your vision forward, to find new directions and ideas to revitalize your artwork. But for many of us it is the hardest thing to do.
I will continue to experiment with this new process and see where it takes me. Much paper will end up in the bin, and many dollars will be spent buying more. But in the end I know I will discover something that will take me further, and change forever how I approach making no matter what media I work in.
Do you give yourself time to experiment? If so has it been worthwhile? Is it a practice you make a point of taking time for?