Erika Allison's Artastic Blog

Some of my latest works of art will be featured at the upcoming showcase at LeMur Gallery. The opening reception will be on Thursday, February 4^th from 7 – 10 pm.

Sometimes it seems like life gets in the way and interferes with my ability to make art… when I want to.

It’s hard when I’m  “inspired” to paint and all kinds of things interfere with my plans. It tends to make me angry and/or frustrated. I have ideas. I want to paint. I NEED to paint. But, I have to do this and I have to do that. And, the car needs to go in for some repair …and ends up taking all day …and into another day.

Why me? Aaaaaagh! I try to remain calm and just go about doing what I have to do. I know that getting angry and grumpy isn’t going to help. As a matter-of-fact, that usually makes everything worse. That makes the people around you angry and grumpy. It’s not their fault that everything isn’t going smoothly.

So – the Big Irritator this week is the car. It needs to go in to see what’s wrong – and get repaired.

I went “prepared” for a long wait. I took my crossword puzzle book and two pencils. I never work crosswords in ink. It’s guaranteed I’ll be doing some erasing. I forgot to mention that I like crossword puzzles that are HARD – ones I’ll most likely not be able to finish completely. I took along my Washington Post crossword puzzle book. I used to have the New York Times crossword puzzle book that I loved.

I also took along my copy of Julia Cameron‘s Walking In This World. I have read it through several times. I can’t remember how many times. But, I get something from it every time. When I finish it, I will either go back to The Artist’s Way and read that again, or I will re-read Walking in This World again. The books are full of reminders about what it is to be an artist, what one should be doing, the pitfalls to watch out for, and all those wonderful quotes.

So, while car problems got in the way of my plans to attend a holiday coffee and to spend a day painting, maybe it was meant to be. It provided some probably much-needed time to slow down, think, and think some more.

I could read a lot more than I do. I used to read a lot. But, it takes away from my painting time. I tend to think in terms of creating time and other things that interfere with creating time. Perhaps I need to expand my horizons and remember that all those other things fill the well. Where does one get the experiences to paint about if one isn’t “experiencing”?

So, maybe life doesn’t get in the way after all. Life is what it’s all about!

The learning curve…yes, it seems that my learning curve is HUGE. I’m referring to anything having to do with the computer and how to use it well. I love e-mail, facebook, websites. I enjoy surfing and finding new artists and keeping up with ones I’ve already found and/or followed. But, when it comes to actually DOING anything, MAKING anything (such as a website) I have no clue…I’m TRYING to learn. I WANT to learn. I’m not sure there’s enough time for me to learn it all – or at least not FAST enough. I want to know NOW. Fortunately, I found a great webmaster who has created a website for me, among other things. And, she’s teaching me how to do some things myself. An artist really should know how to do all this. Maybe if you grew up with computers it wouldn’t all seem so foreign. As an artist, I create all kinds of things. I make my painting surfaces. I can use tools and power tools. I am comfortable with these things. I’m hoping to get comfortable using the tools the computer offers as well.

I have a show opening this evening. I decided it would be a good idea to create a sign with my name in the style of my artwork. So far, so good… Then, I decided I should take a picture of that and have it to post on my blog and my facebook, etc. Oooooh…now that learning curve comes into play. I managed to download the camera. Most of you wouldn’t find this a big deal, I’m sure. Now, I need to re-size the image so I can post it on here and on facebook and e-mail it to a few friends. I spent the whole morning trying to figure it all out. I had folders inside of folders where they didn’t belong. And, I’m being asked for what I consider technical info that I have no clue about. I stumbled through the process several times. I THINK I have something to post.

I know a lot of you would say I should take a course or two. And, I could take a photography course. Then, I could always consider a woodworking course so I could improve on those skills. I really want to be an artist and apply those skills that I’ve spent a lifetime honing. I think my time is better spent creating. I will continue to learn more about using my computer. I hate having to admit I’m a dinosaur!

Now, to see if my morning’s efforts paid off…