The forest and the trees

November 2nd, 2019. At 2:29 this morning I awoke in a strange bed. My husband was asleep beside me and I quickly realized I was spending the night at Nantucket Inn in Anacortes, WA. We were there for the opening reception at Scott Milo Gallery where I have 9 paintings in a show through the month of November.

I was awake. My iPhone was handy so I began browsing Instagram and came across information on a year-long online mentoring course with an oil painter whose work I admire. The word mentoring caught my attention because that is something I plan on doing more of in the future. I settled in for a middle-of-the-night pondering session; those usually begin with the last stimulating events before bedtime that I didn't fully process. Eventually I fall asleep.

I relived last night's chats with visitors and other artists at the gallery. I heard myself explaining that I switch subjects and mediums because I like a new challenge. I even heard myself saying I might try acrylics yet again. I am at a time and place where I can choose to paint anything I want or not paint at all. My teaching, jurying and gallery commitments for this year are coming to an end and as always, I like to review the year and plan what's next. At 2:29 in the morning, away from home, it is easier to get some perspective on my goals. It is as if I'm mentoring myself. The following saying came to mind:  "Can't see the forest for the trees."

 'You can't see the wood for the trees'? This proverbial saying is first found in John Heywood's 1546 glossary A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the englishe tongue: An olde saied sawe, itche and ease, can no man please. Plentie is no deyntie [dainty]. It is an expression used of someone who is too involved in the details of a problem to look at the situation as a whole.

At home, and especially in front of my computer, I lose myself in details (trees). I am beckoned to check out various websites, Facebook, Instagram and to look at the artwork of others. Update my database, post art for sale on Etsy or DailyPaintworks, update my own website, run a Quickbooks Profit and Loss report to see if the business end of my art is on track.  But, what about the big picture (forest)? What do I hope to accomplish in the coming year? More opportunities to teach? Awards to add to my resume? More sales? No. What then? I would like to become a better painter. 

So back to the online mentoring offered by another artist. I could do that. Instead of focusing on mentoring others in 2020, I could take a year off from teaching to become a better painter. I could take an online mentoring course. What would that life look like? I'm thinking about it.

Meanwhile, Click here to see my larger-format paintings from 2019. I posted 35 smaller format paintings from 2019 about a month ago. Click here for those.

And, because I like to include images in my posts, here are a couple photos from the Nantucket Inn Bed and Breakfast in Anacortes. We highly recommend it.