The Best Thing I Learned in 2016

At the end of last year I resolved to change my approach to my art by shutting off my overactive analytical brain. When I first began to make prints I decided that I would work within three different series that I had laid out for myself. I created the ideas for the series first and what I wanted to express, and the design followed later. From my art historical point of view this is how I had been accustomed to engaging with other people’s work. I would read up on a particular artist and try to understand their background and what their interests were, and then I would look at their work and determine how that was communicated.

I soon began to struggle to come up with new ideas. In order to change this I decided to only make images that were exciting to me visually and to ignore any need to create further meaning. The results were a pleasant surprise. Not only did my prints become something that I am proud of, and markedly different from what I had been making, but the images themselves began to express pieces of myself without my having to manipulate them.

My analytical brain still gets in the way from time to time. And In 2017 I will continue my efforts to tame it. Amazing things happen when we stop overthinking and act from our gut.