Overcoming Overwhelm

Barnum Brook, Sept. 1, 2022

I have been writing these posts ahead of time and this one is being written on Thursday, July 10. Yesterday, the one about Zines (posted Friday 7/11) and the one about choosing which drawing to redo (posted Saturday 7/12) were written. And while lying in bed last night, I thought “Look, I’ve done it again” - all these new art ideas to be done and right away!

Here’s the thing: I already have at least two other zines in progress and another artwork to redo. Not to mention learning to draw animals, creating fabric designs, and 90+/- artworks/designs in various stages of incompletion. Can you say “overwhelmed”???

So, after lying there fretting for a while, I did what I thought would work for me: prayed and asked for guidance. Also, I remembered my intention, decided recently, to give each artwork the time and patience it deserves before putting it out there - not rushing through things (which is why the 90+/- uncompleted works came about in the first place).

The fretting stopped and the answer came in the morning. I was able to consolidate my plans for the rest of July into something that feels more manageable and in line with my overall goals. Ahhh relief …

What about you? Do you ever get a lot of ideas at once - more than you can do right away? If so, how do you handle it? Or is your experience more like having just the right amount of ideas, not enough, or something else all together? Not just with art, but with whatever is important to you - creative or otherwise. Please share if you feel comfortable and inclined to do so! Thanks!

Artwork: 8 3/4” x 8 3/4”, acrylic underpainting, acrylic marker, collage.

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