OK. I Lied.

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Perhaps I should sculpt chocolate nudes...

OK. I lied. I made a post/announcement that I would not be doing the scheduled blog post today.  As I stepped away from the computer and walked through the house and returned to my thoughts - the ones that have been turning over and returning for the last couple of weeks I rethought my previous statement.  

If this blog is what I say it is - a journey into artistic process and the life and art of one woman - then writing about these thoughts and the artistic shift that I can feel is in process, perhaps writing about it is just what I needed to do.  I feel certain that there are other artists out there...and other human beings who do not call themselves artist (a point of thought that I also think about often)...who know exactly what I am talking about.  Those periods of time when you can feel something shifting on an internal level but where it is going, where it will lead is unclear.  I dreamt of snakes last night for the first time in a long time - I know when this happens that there is a change coming - a shedding of the skin so to speak.  

So what does this "feeling of change" look like in my world?  It kind of looks like the photos of my library above.  Typically my sleep schedule will change and I will find myself waking in the early hours of the morning, like at 2 or 3 am.  I then began prowlling through the house with a cup of coffee in my hand and my thoughts roam and settle, roam and settle.  I often get much done during these wee early hours in the morning.  I also love the sensation of walking through my home with a few small lights on and watching the light shift and change as the sun rises.

I am fairly certain that the 2 main creative projects that I have committed myself to in the last months have led me to exactly where I am currently at.  NAKED: The Art of Exposure and Vision Shift are projects whose inherent nature were intended to reveal and transform my experience of myself and the world around me.  So...I suppose I should have expected a shift in artistic direction to arise.  The unsettling feeling is that of not knowing exactly where it is leading.   But then do we ever really know where life is leading?  We can move through our daily life with set intentions and goals, but I believe that part of living life artistically also means watching were the flow of life is changing and being open to what you had previously not seen. I spoke with an artist friend of mine the other day.  She too mentioned experiencing a similar feeling.  When she said that she thought she might be going crazy I laughed and thought - well, we are both in good company then.  

This morning I was doing the early morning task of responding to emails, messages and social media scheduling and I was drawn to an article that anothet artist had posted on facebook.  The article was from the NY Times and was titled Is the Age of the Artistic Recluse Over?  This is one of those topics that have been milling over in the melting pot of my brain.  The vast majority of pantings that I have sold over the last years have happened as a result of social media.  It is an interesting time to be an artist.  Unless you are in the big leagues and/or are dealing in the world of galleries, in many ways social media is a necessary vehicle for getting your work out into the world.  Although in many ways I would be content to do what I do and not have it be public - that does not pay the bills and I also believe that sharing your work with the world at large is part of the definition of being an artist.   So I am both grateful for social media and I also find myself feeling ambivalent about it.  As much as it can be a useful tool it can also be a sucking vortex of time.  I also do not want to live a life in which a social media persona becomes my identity.  Who someone is on social media can be a very far distance away from who they are in person.  Not to mention that spending any time watching or waiting for LIKES and SHARES begins to feel like a strange way of determining any sort of value for your work, time or effort.  

So...where does this leave me?

Well...walking around the house at 2 or 3am...at times contemplating becoming a sculptor of fine chocolates and then laughing because knowing me I would begin to sculpt chocolate nudes - but that is a whole additional topic for another time!  Other contemplations include my beliefs that the way I, or any of us, lives our lives is a fine art onto itself.  Sometimes I wonder if I could disappear from social media and still accomplish what I believe is my purpose.  But in this moment in particular I am curious.  I want a conversation with other artists.  I am curious regarding who amongst us is also feeling a shift of undetermined origins?  I want to ask you my fellow travellers how you really feel about social media?  

So today's blog post is a bit of insight into the ramblings of my mind and soul.  It is also an invitation for my fellow artist (and any other human being who does not think of themself as an artist) to comment, leave a message and let me know how you feel about feeling or knowing that a shift in your work is in process but not yet realized.  Are you wondering around your homes at 3am too?

Perhaps by the next blog post I will be back to the regularly scheduled programming...but I have my doubts.

In gratitude, love and art,
​~Heather