the art of letting go, or mapping for treasure.

Letting go of the end. That's a harder task than it sounds. We are so end-loooking, or even end-demanding,  that sometimes we forget that most of the time is spent in the getting there, rather than the end itself. And that the end is when we simply... start the next drawing. So we need to really love the getting there, as that is where most of the time is spent. Recently I had an excellent student spend a couple of days with me for a Masterclass, and even though she is an accomplished painter already, all of us benefit from spending time with a creative Other to have our batteries recharged, be offered a slightly different perspective, and to take the odd dare. Or two.

Colette, I found, was fearless, her attitude was, aw yeah! Her drawings were stunning and her new path is begun. Hooray!

Lovely studies by C. Clail, student.

If we think about it as a path on a treasure map. There are many paths, and when we find a good route, sometimes after trying a few dead ends or some that get us nearly there but not quite, we find the better way knowing all the while that there is treasure at the end. The journey is where we are putting that treasure INTO the chest. By the time we reach it, we realize that we made all of it, as we travelled to get there.

Next Up - water colour workshop, Big Drawing Day, and Portrait workshop.
 email julie@juliedouglas.co.uk for info