Eighty Envelopes Update
It is the last week of Lent and I am trying to push through a few more pieces. A few weeks ago, I decided that I would make a series from Elisha’s pots of oil. I did create the plastic bag version last week. I cleaned up my studio and gathered a stash of small canvases. But mainly I wanted to create a second version of the one I made a few weeks ago. Then I would makes some mini-versions of all of my souvenir pieces for the upcoming art show. Or souvenirs of my souvenirs.
Today I decided that was boring. But I’m going to keep trudging along. I’m glad I figured that out before several more canvases. It would help for me to have something to listen to while I work. Otherwise I think about all of the other things I need to do. Like put away the birthday cards and gift bags I received two plus weeks ago. Both of which are hanging out in my peripheral vision.
This Lenten Season, I have really tried to focus on changing my vibe, opening up to my potential, and settling down to my life’s work. Especially with the passing of my birthday, I intended for this decade to be the rebirth/relaunch of my career as an artist. But it is really hard to keep at it. Especially when you have two kids under the age of five and you are working in a house that screams for your attention, too.
My job duties as an artist include reading, writing, making art and absorbing new ideas through travel and looking at other’s art. These all sound decadent, but I am so out of sorts when I do not make time for them. I have been reading a lot lately, as well as writing. Today I finished my journal, a composition notebook in six weeks. That’s a good sign. And Sunday, I stole a few minutes by myself to look at some art around Carrboro.
In addition to clearing a dozen bags of stuff out of my house, I have been tapping my head off. I started out tapping on wealth and issues related to finances, which in turn covers a lot of territory. This week, I read a book about tapping for procrastination. I’m still not doing the work I should be, even though I have a lot less qualms about charging money for my work. And I also have a book about tapping for my temperament. That’s in the stack, but it is on the back burner since it isn’t a library book. So I’ve eliminated a lot of emotional baggage the last few weeks, too. And plan to continue this process.
All of this has lead me to feeling much lighter and transformed this Lenten season. I have read and discovered a lot of amazing ideas and I hope they will show up in my art work.
As far as the Eighty Envelopes, I commit to gluing them until Sunday. Then it is off to Copenhagen to explore my one word, Peace. I know that there is more to learn from the envelopes, because the vision for the next piece has not arrived. Maybe I had my lesson wrong: it is not about the number of envelopes I glue down that will lead to abundance. Instead maybe my pots of oil are the new ideas that I create and share. It is not such a strict interpretation of the 2 Kings story. It is about my art. I should not get hung up on one idea. But I do need to share the stories of the ideas and I find myself procrastinating on that step. Maybe that’s part of the Peace process.
