“Sometimes our best intentions fail us”

Last week I posted about starting some stitched fabric samples, to get me creating again, however what I actually found myself doing was painting. It made me wonder if I’ve been in some way, putting off starting to paint again, maybe it’s been my inner critic raising its ugly head again. “Why do you even think you are an artist, who says you are any good, people will laugh at your efforts, no one will like or buy this so why even bother???”

But I realised my own voice was shouting at me even louder “you need to be the artist you know you are, it doesn’t matter if your work is good (in anyone else’s opinion), the only person I need to listen to is ME.

I found this really liberating, I’ve spent several hours this week, really enjoying myself, working on four boards (plus hours of thinking time), collaging with painted papers, then freely painting, enjoying the process with no thought of an end result, just responding to design principles, as I added more and more layers and I’m really happy with the way these are progressing.

The image above shows the various stages these panels have gone through and the last board is beginning to speak to me, so more discernment and careful thought is now needed to refine this further.

Having said that, I’ve been painting with my textile friends today and they saw a giraffe, lion cub and a building in the last one but I think they all enjoyed watching my process and seeing my evident joy and love for the paint.

If this has inspired you to have a go at something you’ve always wanted to do, don’t listen to that critical voice, just get on with following your heart, it will feed your soul and enrich your life.