Excuse Me?

We all know that the more we practice our craft, the more we improve, and that an artist should commit to daily efforts, even if it is not a show-stoppin', earth-shakin', toad-stranglin' major undertaking.

I've come through just such a month. I let the business and busyness of events bring me to a dead stop. I didn't sketch. I didn't paint. Finally, I got into a terror that, if I didn't buckle down and start to work, I would lose what I considered to be a gift from God: my talent.

Although it doesn't take much to divert me, this was TMTW (The Month That Was). I lost two crowns to a chewy bagel and had to get dental work. A young man ran a red light and totaled my car. Because of that event, I was on the phone and meeting people I hadn't intended to meet for the last half of the month.

And today; the last day of a wasted month, I woke up with a healthy cold that made me feel wasted. The cold is vibrant, while the head and chest are in what feels like a final decline.

I decided, "Forget about waiting to feel better; I need to feel better now! Double!!" No waiting for a fresh month. February is too short to paint all I need to paint.

So I sat back down to my waiting portrait commission and started to paint, not as energetically as usual, but with a tired patience that evolved, as I worked, into a quiet joy as the sweet face took shape and I started her little dress. All the time I worked, my cold dissipated itself into quiescence, and I had enough energy left from the creative flow to post on my blog.

I still have the background to design and paint, the legs, and the trim on the dress, but I really do feel better than when I started this morning!

I wondered if other artists let happy or unhappy events get them so tangled up that they think they can't afford the time -- the self-discipline -- to work on their art. Even sick in a hospital bed, if you have a sketchbook, you have the world. When you realize that it really doesn't even take self-discipline, since art is our elation field, where we can dance without legs, and sing at the Met.

Get into it, right now, and see how good it makes you feel! No excuses allowed.

-- Nancy

www.nancyparkfineart.com