Nothing beats the feeling of creating when I am in that zen-like state where the painting, drawing, or sculpture is just taking form effortlessly and it just finishes so easily. It's like the work is creating itself. Of course, I have a lot of unfinished work stacked up in the studio that started out flowing like water, but quickly got dammed and came to a screeching halt waiting for completion some day. Both of these feelings - the free-flowing creativity and the blocked creativity - are part of being and feeling like an artist.
And there is such validation when someone else thinks so highly of your work that they want to own a piece. I was fortunate to sell two pieces this past weekend at the NCAEA conference. Modus Operandi 123 above was an 11x14 piece that hung around my studio for a couple of years before I finished it for an exhibit last winter, and Personal Excavation below grew out of my Excavation Series and is a small 4x6 graphite piece that I finished relatively quickly. I appreciate anyone wishing to own a piece of mine, and there is such a release when the work is sent out there to live somewhere else. That release is also part of being and feeling like an artist.
This artwork would have never existed if it were not for the visual journal. The ideas, techniques, and concepts that I have developed in the journal over the last 11 years have laid the foundation for the artwork that I am making now. The journal has been such an integral part of my personal artistic growth. And I am happy to share my art and my journey.Thank you to all who have supported my artistic endeavors.