Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The Color Quagmire


and Other Creative Nuisances

Whew! I'm struggling. If you were to ask my friends, they'll tell you I have an interesting relationship with color. I'm the proud owner of more than one pair of green shoes, a pair of gingham and, yes-even striped shoes. The best part is, I call them my "happy shoes" and throw them on no matter the palette of the rest of my ensemble; just because. Yes, just because they make me happy. I was also the child known to color a striped rain cloud or a kitten with stars and hearts adorning its coat.

So why then do I struggle so when incorporating color into my art as an adult? My writing is oft-vivid and colorful. I'll tell you why, I over-think. Yesterday as I mixed colors, for the large orbs I chose as my latest collage backdrop, I was listening to cerebral radio; a continuous medley of Addiction, 1983 and the theme song from The Wire: Season One -in any and every imaginable order. The mind was clear and I was living in the far right. Then I stopped, brewed another cup of coffee, stared at the happy colorful orbs as they lay drying and I could feel my eyebrows come together at the center and a nagging tug at the right side of my mouth as my jaw clenched in self-doubt. Meh.

I'm going to give myself one more evening of pondering (and, a glass or ten of Pinot Grigio) before I whip out the matte medium and seal the deal-no pun intended. What creative quagmires have you faced recently?



Peace

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bright colors make me nervous. I never want to bring extra attention to myself so my palette is very mute. Browns, blacks, blues and green make my swoon. Orange, fushia and purple...not so much!

High Desert Diva said...

I'm a color girl, too!



I'm so stuck in an uncreative quagmire...it's not even funny. Blah.

Barbara said...

If there are ten glasses involved you are sure to color all over the place =). I'll be waiting to see...

Unknown said...

i love the colorfulness of that picture.

for a long time i also struggled with incorporating color into my garments. but then again i don't know if it was really a struggle, since i was just doing what i felt. earthy tones just happened to be all that i felt at the time, and i went with that. somehow, though, this past fall nearly everything i turned out was filled with color. i'm not sure if this is permanent or temporary, but i'm just riding the wave.

i guess my creative quagmire presently is coming up with new designs. i feel so stagnant, and i know it has something to do with some other things i've got going on.

Cecile/DreamCreateRepeat said...

I could, if I chose, look at my whole life as a creative guagmire right now. I am doing NOTHING creative. However, I think that trying to help my sister move forward (and create positive change with my mom in some areas) is taking all my creative energy into play....

I can't wait to see the new works!

lori vliegen said...

in my world, neutral colors equals safe, comfort zone...massive amounts of bright color equals "uh, i don't come here very often, so i'm not sure if this is right." for now, i choose the warm serenity of my comfort zone! :)

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