Singing anyway

On being an emotional being who uses words and pictures

A collage artwork I did some time ago was specially framed last week and sold by one of my galleries in Oklahoma. It's titled “Singing Anyway”. I had created it during a dark period in my life when I was learning about the differences between toxic positivity and more flexible emotions. Being allowed, whether by myself or other people, to have only one emotion, to only be happy or angry or afraid is usually highly toxic.

I learned that it works better to be able to both acknowledge troubles *and* still be able to see things that are acceptable, okay or even pleasant and vice versa. Feeling a dozen or more different feels all in one day is more normal. Especially as someone who tries to make something creative regularly the more well-rounded my awareness of my emotions can be the more ways I can connect with myself and other people. During hard times connections with myself and others is needed more than ever.

Here's the new frame the gallery did for my piece “Singing Anyway”.

As you know I draw most mornings - in a sketchbook or sometimes on small boards. Sometimes I just write in my notebook. Breakfast is my time - however long or short the duration - to check in with myself before the day starts speeding up.

When I haven't much morning time I'll add to a page that's already begun. Here's a blue cat page I've been adding to a little along. It's something of a “mood page” a list of tiny pleaures to remember during hard times.

Here's a few boards, a 2 panel story, that I've been working on off and on for many mornings - now it's finished. I was thinking of the twilight in the morning and evening and how pleasant it is to read books during those times. I chose to draw on board because I'm thinking of adding to my coffee and tea mug design collection.

Here's the 17oz cup I made with the above artwork titled “Owl Library Latte Mug”. But of course owls like both coffee and tea…

I got this book “Feel Something Make Something” by Caitlin Metz this week. I haven't finished reading it yet but so far it correlates to my sketchbook practice: the creation of an ongoing collaboration with my own emotions.

Human beings process our world via emotions and we cope with our feelings by using words, images, movement and music. This is true for artists and also true even when we don't consider ourselves creative or artistic - humans can find solace in reading what other people have written, looking at pictures, going for walks and listening to music.

After sharing my last post several of you asked questions about my “read in case of flagging spirits” bathroom book shelf. Here's a photo of it.

All of the books in my bathroom shelf are very carefully chosen for their helpfulness. This one “The Do It Yourself Guide To Fighting The Big Motherfuckin’ Sad” by Adam Ganade rates very high in the helpfulness scale. If the plumbing was malfunctioning I'd try to save this book.

The other book I'd save is this one “Dr. Bob's Emotional Repair Program First Aid Kit”. Yes, I did the illustrations for the book but that's not why I'd rescue the book from a flood - I'd do it because in working on the book I learned so much about dealing with my emotions. For example…

… I used to be very critical of my own art. But then in the process of doing the illustration work for the “Dr Bob…” book I learned that “feelings are guides not gods to be obeyed”. My feelings often indicate what's important to me. (Which is why keeping a journal/sketchbook is valuable.) So when I was “feeling critical of my art” I could distill down that feeling from general frustration with an art piece to “what specific elements could I change that might please me more?”.
And I learned when I encountered that generalized feeling of being super-critical to stop feeding that feeling. To put the art away, stop shouting at myself and go for a walk, have dinner, read a book etc. Then the next day or so get the art back out and ask myself “what specifically do I like about this piece” Name and write down as many things liked as possible - I aim to find 5 to 10 things - absurd silly replies are fine!!! Then I ask myself “how can I add more of what I like to this piece?”
I will also ask myself “what can I do with this that will make me like it better?” practical answers only!! i.e. make that shape more round…make that color lighter…
And then just finish the piece as best I can - focusing on what I want more of, what I like - and move on to the next piece.

The point is that however I feel at any given time is just fine. The danger is in getting stuck too firmly in one emotion and not able to feel all the feels.

One morning recently I woke up grumpy. I hadn't slept well. There was the state of the world… ugh. So during my morning sketchbooking time I drew this cat in black ink.

I was still grumpy after I finished the drawing - and that was fine - but the silliness of the drawing helped me feel something besides grumpy: a smidgen of pleasure in the drawing. That helped me become less likely to inflict my mood on other people and push them away - instead of connecting with them. Inflicting my mood on others would *not* have been fine! (And after coffee and breakfast, things got a bit better anyway.)

We take our feelings with us everywhere we go … thank goodness for the helpfulness and comforts of words and pictures.

Thank you for your ongoing support and patronage! I appreciate the extra art supply money! Paid subscribers can download my most recently published sketchbook, in its entirety, from this link. Thanks again!