1st art made since return from China 2 months ago...

Well, howdy folks. I recently blogged about the idea around what it is to be an artist and being defined as one or not because of the frequency of your artistic output. I am posting a sketch I did as my first immersion back into making art after a life changing time in China where I lived for 4 months. After returning from the east, my husband and I decided to move and we started looking with full on horrendous jet lag and we found a place, moved and downsized all within weeks of our return. Needless to say, such transitions don't leave much time to paint, write...much of ANYTHING but packing and unpacking boxes and giving away now unwanted belongings....change anyone?

Yes. Change is the key word here. Several people have asked me the biggest things that I got from my trip and stay abroad and I honestly answered,"I don't know yet." This was not me being coy, but the honest answer to what I could physically feel churning away inside of me and yet could not define. I knew I was and still am grasping the fact that I have grown and changed from my life's journey and the process is on going still!

I was sure that I needed to wait and feel out the time that would be right to start making art again. I didn't want to rush it because of the intensity of that changing feeling inside, so when we were completely finished with unpacking and setting our place right, resting afterwards...the time became very evident. The need to start was a gutteral pull to my art space and getting started. I had a portrait lined up to do before I left for China but decided to do it when I returned to see what would change. Well, for starters, I decided to do a full on drawing on strathmore paper before going to canvas and as a result I drew again! This is/was my FIRST love in art. I have drawn my entire life until I decided to teach myself how to paint about 12 years ago. At that point I began to only draw a light sketch on the canvas to be painted over...bye-bye sketch only to be saved digitally on a disk in some camera. So when I did this drawing, I felt this rush of love for doing it fill me up again and I have decided to do more and more and more. I am going to go BIG and very large scale and draw with carbon, graphite and pens...I am going to go full tilt in this direction and cannot wait. The story does not end here.

Today, I decided to paint...to start the painting that goes with this drawing. As usual I began sketching this image on the canvas, but I was pulled to approach it like I did the drawing. I decided to "draw" it with goopy oil paint and brushes....I now have a painting that I am loving that looks COMPLETLY different than my previous paintings....I am not going to post this until a bit later as I need to look at this painting and make sure this is a good thing or not, but I know it IS. This time away and this time percolating with the life's adventures inside a while has paid off in ways I never imagined. I am so happy to be drawing again and I am so happy with how my new painting came out as a result of making this drawing. I believe my paintings will be forever changed as a result- this feels incredibly intense and exciting to me.