Erickka

Patmore

Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed some mental burnout with me, even though EI has allowed me to have more free time for art than ever before. I’m not judging myself over here, but I figured I would write myself through it (so you can read through it) to figure out what’s going on.

I’ve been really getting used to being able to tell where I want a painting to go intuitively; I start with one small idea, but let the painting develop on its own as I go and try not to think about what I’m doing too much. It had felt like I was starting to really get my groove with this method, and my work had been coming out pretty decently, taking these small initial ideas, and resulting in something that’s far beyond where I thought that idea could have gone. It feels like I might have hit a wall again, though,

At least within the past week, that “flow” of intuition i’ve been so used to connecting with through my practice hasn’t been quite as prominent as usual, and it’s been strange and frustrating after trusting it to be there, loud and clear, for a little while now. For example, instead of sitting and painting for an hour or two a day like usual, I’ve cut up canvas, left backgrounds sitting on my wall for days only to have no ideas to push them forwards, and some days it’s too much for me to even pick up a paintbrush. Finished work this week though? Hahaha, please don’t ask me about that.
Clearly, there’s a little more going on than just the art struggles, as I’ve been struggling ever since COVID became a thing, but I think the key to getting my flow back is to either take a step back for a while and allow my creativity to recharge, or try to come up with alternate ways to navigate my art making again. Maybe a little bit of both?

There’s really not too much of a greater point I have here, but I think it’s important for me to document these phases in my art making. I’ve been through art block before, and I know it passes, but I think getting this out of my system in a matter-of-fact way like this is a great tool for me to be gentle with myself and look at my feelings a little differently.

I’m hoping to spend some time recharging and refreshing my ideas over the next week, so I likely won’t be painting a whole lot, but that’s okay. Refreshed brains can make better art later. :)