Post Sale

Today was the Artist's Valentine sale, and my sister-in-law made a poignant comment about "so much wasted beauty." It touched her that artists put so much love and detail into these cards and she was sad that much of it was wasted, in her view. We haven't had as many people attend the sale as there once were, and our numbers show this. We could use some help with publicity. But still, none of it is wasted, of that I am sure. Artist's Valentine is a fundraiser, it is true, for a grant for artists, but it is also an important community builder for artists who often work on their own and don't get to mingle with others who share their odd compulsions.

But this entry is more by way of review for a blog I started a year ago. My original goal was to make one valentine a week, which turned out to be rather ambitious but I did average one valentine a month, and made several I truly loved, some of which sold today. So what now, I wonder. As an artist on hiatus, I have poured most of my artistic energy into yoga and raising a family, but there are seismic rumblings beneath and a strong yearning to get back to the studio.

I have long wanted to draw daily as part of my artistic practice. The artist Carole Rabe mentioned a book called "The Power of Limits" in her gallery talk at the Groton Public Library on Saturday, and spoke of the powerful use of limits in her work, limited palette, limited subject matter. And the paintings are divine. I also recall Jeanne Williamson's project of weekly and monthly paintings, working with a specific size for a set period of time. What limits shall I set for myself this year? I have such limited time for art and that probably won't change much until my youngest enters kindergarden. How to make the best use of the small amounts of time that I have? How to keep the embers glowing, so that they are ready when the fire needs to be re-lit?