When faced with a creative challenge make a PIVOT to plot a new path
I talked about this in a previous post. Change…that dreaded word. The book, Who Moved My Cheese, by Spencer Johnson is a good start if you’re someone resistant to change. It’s a really great read and can help you learn to handle change a bit better.
Personally, I believe that moving forward requires change so that firmly places me in the adapt as things happen, meaning I handle change reasonably well. That’s not to say that I don’t whine when I have to make a change, but I do quickly figure out how to make what’s happening to my benefit.
The reality is that we will come up against challenges. This is just part of the ebb and flow of life. For an artist, however, events that interrupt the creative flow can be disastrous. Enid is my solution to a massive interruption in my creative flow.
Please bear with me as I give you a bit of backdrop so you understand the problem.
IN THE BEGINNING: In January we gutted my studio and I was moved to a temporary space. You can read more about that whole story here – I won’t bore you with that now.
So it is now May and we have been renovating my studio for four calendar months. The reality is that we’ve really just puttered around for the four months. We’re slow renovators. Mr D. and I do the work ourselves so we’re at the mercy of our chronic illnesses and let’s face it, some days just a general lack of interest in slinging a hammer or mudding a wall. We’re good with the lack of time lines – to a degree – although I do have days when I get frustrated with our turtle-like pace. When the renovation gets put in my hands to do the fine tuning it feels like the sun comes out to shine – progress is being made. You see I do the drywall mudding, sanding and painting; and wallpapering when the whim hits me. Mr. D. does any structure that is needed in the beginning and then the doors, trim, and floors, (after I’ve finessed the walls). We’ve got a good system going. We’re just slow. And the more slow we are, the longer I’m working in the temporary studio space.
THE PIVOT: So in February I found myself at a crucial point. Do I continue with the current Glorious collection, which was begun in my old studio space, or do I pivot to something totally fresh that “belongs” to my temporary studio? I truly was at a crossroads and losing precious creative time as I pondered how to move forward.
As I was doing my pondering, Mr. D. was building the wall that will house the first pocket door – the entry to my studio. As he fiddled with the door, ensuring it is level and glides nicely in and out of the pocket, genius strikes me. Truly, I kid you not! Genius! I decided to put a painting on the side of the door that faces the inside of the my studio. And so the idea of Enid was born.
Enid is a full, door-size painting. 30” X 80”. Of course, I never take the easy path. Now I could have done something such as paint the door a fun solid colour, (that would have been cool, and much easier), but an actual painting on the door, that’s epic! In addition to creating a large painting, I decided that rather than paint the door in my current style, just larger, I would try something new…
OOPS, BACK TO SOME BACKGROUND INFO: Two years ago I painted a moody path in a wood somewhere. The path went up a hill, disappearing into the atmosphere. When I finished I realized that the piece was almost illustrative…I could see Winnie the Pooh ambling up that hill. And that planted the seed for the idea to combine my painting process with my illustration process. I had no idea how to achieve a blending of the two skills, but the idea fermented and stewed until February, 2025.
BACK TO THE STORY: So here are some truths about my creative process, painting-wise. I paint in layers. I paint standing up so that I can have full movement. I paint with music playing in my ears. The music influences how I paint and what is generated on the canvas both the shapes and colours. I don’t consult references. I don’t consider composition until at least mid-way through a piece. This process, this intuitive process, is very important to my creativity and my soul. On a good painting day, and most are good, I leave my studio revitalized.
In total contrast, when I illustrate it is usually curled up in the corner of the sofa, in front of the television, either with a sketchbook and pen in my hands or my iPad and pencil. When I’m illustrating I either have a reference and it’s a very thoughtful process or I’m just doodling flowers and trees because my hands need to be doing something. So the problem was, “How do I combine the two very different practices into something new for me?”
On February 20, 2025, I started by drawing my concept on my iPad. I built layers of shapes that would form my quite fanciful idea of a forest. As a door is tall and narrow, I worked with these proportions creating a peek into the woods that allowed the viewer to explore all the dimensions. It took a week of drawing, adding and deleting layers, to reach something that resembled a solid plan. The plan was to paint a study, on a 12’ X 36’ canvas, to test the colours, images and layers, using all the separate layers I had created on the iPad. So as with my painting process I had accounted for all the layering. The abstract blocks of colours with their soft and hard edges, in their vibrant, full saturation and the glory of their greyed versions that I love so much. The layers of intuitive brush marks that I would turn into representational objects. The layer upon layer to give that true sense of glimpsing into another world.
From the beginning, I named her Enid.
It was exciting and terrifying to embark on this project, especially since I knew that it would be a time consuming and self-indulgent use of my creative energy. Enid, is a product of pure self-indulgence. She is exclusively for me. From the moment that I visualized this project, to completion, this project will have consumed over a 100 hours. She’s not intended for sale. When I close the studio door, shutting myself off from the world, I will enter a world of my creation, with Enid for company.
So the blending of the two skills, illustration and painting, that I came up with was a wonderful compromise that allowed me to keep my abstracted ideas of objects. The solution was actually quite logical – I just kept working in my layers, with the addition of drawing layers that created the representational shapes from within my splotches of paint. And it was fun!. This transition from intuitive play to intentional mark making and then back again was really engaging. So engaging that for two full months I was working on first the study of Enid and then the full-sized Enid – without boredom! I was enthralled with what was developing in front of my eyes. I was pleased with being able to problem-solve this idea so that it worked with me as a painter, without sacrificing the intuitive process. Yes, there were intentional layers where I concentrated on the shapes I was “doodling” and referenced what I had created on my iPad, but this was combined with the layers where I sang and danced and swished colours on the door. It was all such fun! Who knew that I could have one piece hold my attention for two months – certainly not me. I’m the first to say that I have a short attention span. I have new ideas pinging in my head constantly, so colour me impressed that I achieved this level of devotion.
So here we are in May 2025 and Enid is being varnished. Varnishing for me has always been my moment of detachment. As the gloss goes on, I whisper good-bye. What a leap that was for me to say that it was time to lay Enid flat. When Mr. D and I lay her on the saw horses, I questioned whether I was really ready to say goodbye to the creation of Enid. Slight diversion here…Ssssh, don’t tell anyone, but I once had a Christmas tree skirt that I was quilting by hand that I kept by my seat on the sofa for 8 years because I had enjoyed the quilting process so much. I wasn’t ready to give it up. It did occur to me to just start another hand quilting project, but rather I spent 8 years with just one little curlicue left to quilt. It just sat there for 8 years, until I was ready to say good-bye.
Anyway, back to my story. While having an anxiety attack, I varnished Enid. Oh goodness, I was having withdrawal symptoms. My brain, which previous to this day was pinging with ideas for my next work, was lamenting the end of my Enid project. Now what do I do? It seems to me that I’m now back to the beginning of my story. I’m not ready to return to the Glorious collection, so I need to pivot…again. Hmmm, there is another door in the studio?
This pivot, from my perspective, is a huge success. Would I have done this project had my creative energy not been challenged? Definitely not! A painting project of this size was not on my horizon. But what a joy it has been to conceive and create Enid.
SO WHAT”S THE PAINTING OF? – Enid is a door-sized peek into a forest filled with layers of details that draw you in. Sort of like a window. There is a sense of perspective and depth to Enid even though I have intentionally skewed the proportions to fit my whim and vision for the piece. The kids said she is like a “Where’s Waldo” because there’s a host of little images tucked here and there. You can’t help but just stand there and search through the foliage for all the little surprises.
Enid uses my Flowers limited palette that I developed in Fall of 2024, also called my dirty palette. Something new is that I have added black to the palette which was very uncomfortable at first. I don’t use black. Since I was drawing in black I surmised that adding black to my palette would better harmonize the painting with the drawing. Right now I’m crushing on black – it makes fabulous greens when mixed with yellows.
It amazes me when I look at Enid now. I can see the love that my soul has injected into the work. All the time that I have invested. All the creative energy I have used. All to create a fanciful world just for me. I have no idea whether what I did will be interesting to anyone else, but that doesn’t matter as she’s just for me.
Enid is scheduled to be on exhibit until mid-June 2025. You can see her first hand from May 23 to June 17 at The Fraser Gallery, in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia. Then she will come home, for good!
True Story!
MUSICAL INSPIRATION: I began each day of painting Enid listening to Ed Sheeran’s song Azizam. What a fun beat. I definitely sing and dance to this one. It really gets me loose and into painting mode and this fun translated to the ‘canvas’. To accompany it, I have now created a ‘Paint’ playlist on Spotify, which has a terrific selection of songs to keep me in the groove, so to speak.