"At Rest"

(unavailable.....4" x 6".....Practice Piece....Pouring Med. on 140 lb. HP .....mounted on Gator Board)

"Enter God's rest through prayer and meditation." Lettering is on my agenda today so this is a practice piece with very casual Roman Versals.

This scrap of a pouring medium piece provided an excellent background for a bit of lettering in preparation for a pair of 8" x 8" pieces for an upcoming exhibit. I like to practice for about three days in advance, especially if I haven't written these letters in awhile. So all of my lists and notes about anything will be in Roman Versals for a few days now. 

In the meantime, mixed media is still going on with more glass in the kiln, carving a hand cut stamp, and cutting more balsa wood. And so this is how it goes when preparing for an exhibit. It is similar to weaving and adding different colors of yarn and even changing the pattern a bit.

So the blog is just another way of establishing a rhythm of practice that goes on and on in spite of any other things going on. My desire to work early in the morning keeps me engaged on a daily basis and is the equivalent of practicing my scales so I can play a Mozart Sonata with some degree of proficiency. 

It does become a bit "dicey" when there are several skill levels in play at the same time, so my advice is to add new techniques to your repertoire cautiously and NEVER right before an exhibit. You could end up pulling your hair out and vowing never to create anything again. So be kind to yourself and don't try to learn and combine new things two weeks before pieces are due.

Let me reiterate again, that if you want to become proficient at anything, you must find a strategy that gets you into your studio everyday. Trying to create one perfect piece is a "setup" for failure. It is far better to create as many smaller pieces as you can and then you will have the experience and confidence to work on the larger piece. And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.