January blues?

January doldrums will not keep me down - if anything, it keeps the art flowing. With the lack of distractions it only enhances the world of creativity. We really have to manage those distraction periods when they come but the month of January is not one of those times. After the highs of the holidays we just experienced, January is a lovely rest time for the mind and spirit. We all accomplish this differently, for me, I get to spend some quality time in the studio.

I begin this year trying to finish those paintings I left hanging in an incomplete status because something else came along that interested me more. I do have a bad habit of getting bored or distracted easily.

I wonder, though, if it wasn't such a bad thing that I left these paintings for something "better". Maybe it's best to let the painting live in this state until we are ready to complete it. I feel that the piece I have shared in this blog is better than if I forged on. During that time apart, I had different experiences that made me grow as an artist and that growth helped make this piece a better one (in my humble opinion). When inspiration isn't there, perhaps we shouldn't force it. I really love this piece now. I liked it before, but now I feel at peace with it.

I'm hoping for at least another new one to come out of the archives. There are some paintings that I have that are so close to complete, I just have to get down to it and decide that it's done. I'm in the process of finishing a portrait I started last year. With the approach of my portrait painting class coming up this week, I thought it would be a good time to get at it and work on those skills to get ready.

Second blog in the books! Yay...that wasn't too painful. Will be back next month with portrait class progress.