Brompton Adventure by Christine Kerrick
vector drawing
This has been a trying month, with gas prices rising, gas gone from some places, and everyone wondering what’s coming next.
Fear not: things will work themselves out. And, like the challenge of covid, this has been a time for some people not to rush around so much.
The same thing happens in any other vocation, and in art. Ecclesiastes 3 talks about seasons for everything. As artists, we tend to want to be in ‘production mode’ most of our day. Whether that means visiting galleries, emailing customers, planning our days or, if we’re stuck home or choose to be home: making art.
Making art is fun—it’s supposed to be—but over the past year I’d felt like I had hit a wall. I tried to produce so that I knew I was still an artist, but it just wouldn’t come. I’ve written about this before. When it first happens, it’s scary. You wonder if you’re supposed to give up on your art, go into aluminum siding or start serving fries.
But no, just like any activity, just like any time in life, you need rest. I needed rest. And now, I listen to myself before I hit that wall. I realize I can do little things instead of ‘not’ doing art when I get burned out: preparing a substrate, doing a loose sketch of an idea, working on a little area of a painting for a limited amount of time, but sometimes I just have to step away and go out.
When you run out of gas, nothing goes. You can’t keep revving the engine. You have to refill, whether that means sleep, changing your environment, taking a little vacation, or just doing something else. Most importantly, leaning on our Creator helps me to get back to seeing what’s important and what I should be doing, instead of doing what I think I have to do.
The refueling is coming. Soon traffic will be back as it was. I like to take the time now to lift my head up, look around, see if anyone else needs help, and just be thankful I am an artist.
