My Declaration of Freedom

I hereby proclaim and declare that I have given myself permission to:

• stop using all my time and energy to produce pieces to sell
• forget trying to please an unknown buyer
• participate in any challenge that strikes my fancy (BTW, I've always wondered where my fancy is located...)
• "waste" hours doodling and experimenting and just messing around in my art room
• focus on creating and finding my own unique creative voice
• get back to having fun with art

So there you have it.


Detail from The Scream, c. 1893
by Edvard Munch



What is it with "should"? I should sell my things. I should do more collage work. I should do more painting. I should do more sewing. My art should be more colorful. It should be more shabby. It should be more like that artist's work. I have come to the conclusion that SHOULD is a 4-letter word. Well, not technically, but you know what I mean.

All those shoulds weigh me down, burden me and stifle me to the point where I just don't do anything. My two escapes are sleep and the computer. My drugs of choice. 

I've been thinking about and pondering all this for some time now. It was a huge step to release myself from all the shoulds, mine and the ones others impose upon me. But no more! Are you fooled by my bravado? Yeah, I'm not either. This is going to be a real challenge. Hopefully the payoff will be  - wait for it - creating! Art that I like, that was fun and interesting to make. Art that has pushed my creative and technical boundaries. Art that I can photograph and share with you here on my blog.

I saw a quote recently: Make your life an exclamation, not an explanation. Wow, and ouch. So here I go. No more explaining why I didn't, but exclaming my newfound freedom to make art! Hooray for me!

Until next time,

Beverly