I took a cardio-kickboxing class this summer and everyone I mentioned it to laughed. I had to laugh myself. I doubt if there's anyone with less body awareness than I and I REALLY don't like to hit things (hey, my hands are my career!).
You couldn't miss me in the class. I was the person wearing quick-dry hiking shorts and a "Life is Good" t-shirt. The instructor looks over and sees me flailing away and yells, "Right punch, left punch, upper cut, kick." Alas, volume seldom helps. My brain is thinking, "Right, left, what, what, what?"
I can see how ridiculous I look in the ever-present mirror: Hair flying, red face, arms and legs not committed to here or there. And yet I am here every week for six weeks, sweating, sweating, sweating. Why? Why? Why?
Because I have a purpose, and I am stubborn. I have made up my mind that I will increase my pack from 35 to 50 pounds for our canoe trips in the Boundary Waters. So I'm here twice a week and I'm 100% committed to sweat, to look ridiculous, to do whatever it takes to reach my goal.
Which leads me to this question - are we, as artists, stubborn enough in our studios? Do we show up at our studio at the appointed time, every time? Are we 100% committed to sweat out the tough times, laugh at the disasters, be immune to what others might think and work, work, work? Are we stubborn enough to know that our early efforts don't count, that it is the being there and the doing that will pay off in the end?
Are we stubborn enough to have the best equipment we can afford and lots and lots of supplies that might not be used for an entire year, but then provide the spark needed for a breakthrough in our work? Are we stubborn enough to know that what we do is important, that our time is important, that our work is important?
Are you doing whatever it takes to reach your art-related goals? Maybe a little more stubborness is in order; stubborn is good!
I did it! The Big Pack.
UPDATE: Still doing it in 2007.
BEHIND THE SCENES
Each year I purchase a journal made from Fabriano papers and use it as my Giant Idea Book. Not that the ideas or the book is giant. I should cut out some of the pages before I begin because when it is full, it is bulging; but I like that kind of abundance. In the book are collages, sketches, thoughts, quotes -- just a year's worth of good, no-pressure stuff created with no particular idea or agenda in mind.
Here are two pages from the 2004 edition:
HAIKU
The baby wrens fledged in July from the woven basket I hung under my second-story deck. Is there anything more charming in the world than a baby wren? Two legs and a beak!
Two wrens fledged today
Tiny, cranky, croaky bundles
Old men on the wing
UPDATE: This is a parent wren in 2007. He sits in the giant sunflowers and lets me know when I'm too close to the nest basket.
HAIKU
Bluejays shatter the morning
Killdeer cries once, twice
Speckled rocks, the open field
RECOMMENDED READING
The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It For Life by Twyla Tharp.
INSPIRATION
This is a close-up of a milkweed pod cluster. The pods wrap around each other in tight groups. I don't know why, but when the pods are dry, they lose all this lovely texture and become fairly smooth and brown.
Milkweed pods later appeared in a linocut. The book I was using as a reference is one of my favorites: Nature as Designer: A Botanical Art Study by Bertel Bager.
PARTING THOUGHTS
Decide to be stubborn in your studio and let me know what happens!
Take care,
Virginia
© 2007 Virginia A. Spiegel
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Virginia A. Spiegel.
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