Forward Momentum

Last week sped by as I left Joshua Tree for the majority of the period. I spent a couple of days in Palm Springs exploring a consulting practice opportunity as well as participating in a long call to discuss the work that will be on offer at the next HIV Law Exhibition on June 2. I then went on to LA to swap out my car, visit with my good friend and gracious host Eduardo Braniff, catch up with my old friend Robert Dennis and spend the first night of Passover with family. This time was very warm and connected and I returned to the desert looking forward to the next phase. Part of me had been concerned about spending a week away from my work in JT and then I realized that this was an essential lesson - how to integrate the art and non-art parts of my life and not set tight boundaries between them.



This realization has followed on one I had before I left. I had been concerned about what I was making - not seeing development and not feeling that the pieces were hitting a mark. I was aware of the fact that I tidied everything away at night, keeping things neat. This was causing me to push for completion each time I worked, rushing to finish a work in order to close up shop. One afternoon I decided to leave everything out on the table. I started to see each bit as part of a bigger work or process. I started to experiment more and see how one thing led to another. Or not. This has created a new freedom for me, less pressure to complete and less tendency to judge.



On my return to JT, Gretchen from the Creative Center reached out regarding a print class. I had one day previously on the press by myself and had been disappointed by my untutored results although in retrospect I had valued them more when seen as part of the bigger process picture. I have also been adding watercolor to the drypoint etchings I brought back from that day, providing a counterpoint to regular monotypes.

Here was the opportunity to learn more technique and, perhaps, get some feedback. We had a long day interrupted only by a leisurely lunch at the 29 Palms Inn and a benefit committee teleconference for the upcoming exhibition. I learned about color use and mixing (some of you know how challenged I am in this area), stencil use and production, composition, press pressure, layering - making several runs on the same image, collage, inking a drypoint plate, and just how precise the printing process is. I also met some folks who dropped into the gallery, listened to good music and exchanged views on a lot of subjects with Gretchen. When I hit the road at around 6.15 pm with three prints in hand, it hit me just how exhausted I was. I crawled into bed that evening with that good weariness that comes at the end of a hard day's work.



We have another class scheduled for early May and I am now preparing my ideas, collages, stencils and stamina for that. I will be submitting work for the first time at Shari and Randy's wonderful Art Queen gallery for a show that will take place on Memorial Day Weekend. Stay tuned.