Looking Ahead

Looking anywhere right now is still a bit of a problem for me. Oh, I can see… but with my left eye all I see is a big, unfocused blur. It’s getting better. As I’ve mentioned in a previous update, the blood clot is breaking up, but my vision is still distorted due to the macular swelling.

When this retinal vein occlusion first occurred in January, I was told that it would be several months before my vision was restored — and, unfortunately, there’s no assurance that the vision in that eye will ever return completely. I’m hopeful, of course.

Whenever we’re faced with physical challenges, we naturally find ways to compensate. We learn to do what we can using what abilities we have. We also learn to step back when needed, to not push ourselves beyond reasonable capabilities.

What does this mean for me as an artist? It means that fine, detailed drawings are extremely difficult, but then, for me, those sort of detailed drawings have never been easy! It means that I can still draw simple things, I can still have fun sketching, and I can still work patiently on drawing techniques. Yet it means, too, that as I’ve said before, some days are going to be better than others. On some mornings, the blurriness hardly seems to bother me at all. On other mornings, my entire field of vision seems to be warped and distorted — especially if I’m trying to focus on drawing geometric shapes and forms!

So, for now, I’m going to put my 100-Day Challenge on hold. I don’t intend to give up on it unless I later find it impossible to continue those exercises. This seems to be a good time for “hitting the snooze button” on the project, and there are several reasons for this.

• As you know, I’m dealing with a lot of additional stress in my life. My daughter will be undergoing additional cancer treatments; we’re doing all we can to help our little Butternut gain weight and survive feline leukemia for as long as he can; we’re still dealing with my father-in-law’s care, as well as my husband’s on-going vision problems and upcoming surgeries.
• I received word yesterday from our retinologist’s office. Dr. Fletcher will be out of the office for the entire month of May. A doctor from another office has agreed to see many of Dr. Fletcher’s patients. We’re already acquainted with him, as he was the doctor who performed my husband’s first eye surgery. I have an appointment scheduled with his office later this month, so at least things are moving forward a bit.
• My true love in art is landscape oil painting, and I’m looking forward to getting out both my oil paints and my oil pastels. Before I do this, however, I’m getting my studio reorganized. It’s needed not just “straightening up” but a complete re-organization. I’ve been working on this, and it’s finally coming together. At this point, I know what media I truly enjoy and what media I can put back in “less accessible” places. I need my oils and oil pastels; I don’t really need soft pastels or acrylics. I have fun playing with my set of gansai, but I don’t need a lot of watercolors and gouache taking up precious space. I have my graphite supplies together, but it’s all right to put the charcoal away. Same with my artist pens. I like drawing with ink, but I don’t need a complete set of pens for that.
• I’m awaiting a new easel! I’m excited for this. For years, my husband has encouraged me to buy a sturdy, wooden easel. They’re so expensive! I am not a professional artist. I don’t really need a high-quality, professional easel… do I? No, but all the same, I’ll be quite happy to have one! With Cheap Joe’s Art Supply closing its doors — online as well as its brick and mortar location — what better time to find a good easel at a reasonable price? For years, I’ve done my painting on an adjustable drafting table, or with a light-weight portable easel. The drafting table has been a comfortable way to work, but it’s time now to make a few changes and set up my gorgeous new H-frame wooden easel. It will be a while before I receive my order — Cheap Joe’s has been swamped with orders during this clearance sale — so while I wait, I’ll finish my studio cleaning and re-organization, and then, once it arrives, I’ll hopefully be ready to go.

So, indeed, this seems like a good time to set my drawing exercises aside. I’ll be going back and doing more reading about oil painting, about landscapes, about all those “artistic” things, such as “high key” and “low key” paintings, color theory, narrative voice in art, light, atmosphere, and emotional content.

And day by day, I’ll find other little “artsy” topics to share here. I’ll be writing more about my personal favorite artists, about paintings I like — and ones I don’t like — about art resources, and all about any other things I find interesting in this fascinating world of art and artists.

You probably won’t be seeing too much of my personal art. The graphite landscape I began earlier is on hold. The oil landscape I started is on hold. Everything involving drawing and painting is more or less on hold for the time being.

I will be playing around though. I’ll take my mixed media sketchbook to the park. I’ll follow along with a few online tutorials to refresh my oil pastel skills. I’ll have fun using my gansai to make colorful little abstracts and turn them into bookmarks. Art can be fun, especially when we can’t take ourselves too seriously!

Are there “art topics” you’d like to read more about? A certain media you’d like me to research? Certain resources you’re looking for? Please,let me know what you’d like to see here and read about while my personal art projects are “on hold”.

THANKS FOR VISITING AND READING!

PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS AND LET ME KNOW HOW “ARTISTCOVERIES” CAN MAKE YOUR ART JOURNEY MORE MEANINGFU.