Day 3 of Year 2
I definitely felt more in the flow today and working larger, on a full sheet of paper 22x30", is fun. I'm feeling landscapes are still in my future, but returning to self-portrait is always helpful in recentering. So much of art is staying through discomfort: the discomfort of pieces not "turning out", the fights and arguments with misbehaving materials, the emotions that come up in the silence of working. Staying through allows all of this to dissipate and something new to emerge. After a few days of struggle, I'm feeling excited again to see what comes.
Learn the backward step
that turns your light inward
to illuminate your self.
Body and mind of themselves
will drop away,
and your original face will be manifest.
by Dogen
xoxo