Avoidance Therapy

For the past weeks I’ve been whining about not having been able to work in my studio. First it was my road trip to Seattle. That ate up two weeks. I needed a week to settle back into Palm Springs and the following week to prepare for Hawaii. Then 10 days in Hawaii. I even wrote about feeling guilty being in Hawaii and not working on my artwork! Pure procrastination.

We’ve been back from Hawaii for a week now. I still have not got my butt in gear to work. I’ve been telling everyone that I’m beginning a new piece. I haven’t actually DONE anything other than clear my work surface. Something always seems to come up to distract my attention. How convenient!

So, I was floating in the pool yesterday afternoon (because my studio just too damned hot to work in) thinking about all of this. What’s going on here, Jer? I played the whole day Saturday and Sunday when I could have been working in my studio. (I do have an incredibly efficient A/C unit in the studio. I just needed to crank down the temp from 86F.)

My planned piece is of woven newspaper. It will be approximately 4 feet X 6 feet, portrait orientation. It will be vertical stripes similar to “Serape Asado Uno” and “Serape Asado Dos” but with a boarder all around. It’s in my head and just needs to be woven. Should be easy.

And that’s my problem. It’s “easy.” I know exactly how to do it and I know what it should look like. I have all the problems figured out – as much as one can; you always run into a problem of some sort. There’s no challenge in making it.

In retrospect, I’m glad I spent time mulling over my ambivalence while floating in the swimming pool. I could have dived into this weaving instead of the pool. I don’t think I would have had a successful weaving. Now, however, I can do that weaving knowing it’s more of a technical exercise (at this point) rather than a technical challenge. If I begin & complete this work as planned, I can do that consciously knowing what I’m getting into. Or I can redesign the whole thing to be more challenging.

So, I’m now conflicted. Do I go ahead and create this weaving even though it’s not going to be a challenge? Or, do I re-design the whole thing?

It’s getting hot. I think I will float in the pool for a bit… and think.

Oh! I almost forgot the shameless self-promotion bit! Please take a minute to visit my website at www.JerryLHanson.com and take a stroll through my artwork. All of it is for sale (except for “Icarus” and “Winter Rain”). Please contact me if you want to buy one of my works or if you have any questions about a specific piece. My contact information is on my website and you can leave a comment on this blog site for me to contact you. You can e-mail me at JeryL@JerryLHanson.com and you can telephone me on my studio phone 760-992-3157: you can call me. I won’t mind).

Thank you for listening,

Jerry L. Hanson